Jim Harra New Chief Executive and First Permanent Secretary at HMRC

Appointment of the new Chief Executive and Permanent Secretary at HMRC

Jim Harra appointed as the new Chief Executive and First Permanent Secretary at HMRC, succeeding Sir Jonathan Thompson.

Published 29 October 2019

From:

Cabinet Office

The Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill, with the agreement of the Prime Minister, has today announced the appointment of Jim Harra as the new Chief Executive and First Permanent Secretary at HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Jim was formerly the Second Permanent Secretary at HMRC, and has been covering the role of Chief Executive and First Permanent Secretary on an interim basis since Sir Jonathan Thompson moved to become Chief Executive of the Financial Reporting Council.
Welcoming Jim Harra’s appointment, Sir Mark Sedwill said:

As Chief Executive and First Permanent Secretary, Jim will continue building on the excellent work he has already set in motion at HMRC. I know that he will provide strong leadership to one of the biggest departments in the Civil Service, and his appointment reflects not only the huge contribution to public service he has made to date, but also the wealth of departmental knowledge he will bring to the role.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid said:

I’m delighted that Jim Harra has been appointed as Chief Executive and Permanent Secretary of HM Revenue and Customs. I’ve worked closely with Jim as we have prepared Britain for Brexit, and his experience and expertise mean he’s the right person to lead HMRC at this crucial time.

Jim Harra said:

I’m thrilled to take on the role of HMRC’s Chief Executive and First Permanent Secretary, particularly at such a critical time. I have a deep respect for colleagues within this department and am proud that they are recognised as among the best in government. I’m very much looking forward to tackling the challenges and opportunities that we’ll face, together, including continuing our progress towards making HMRC the best tax and customs authority in the world.

Notes

• This appointment has been made by the Prime Minister with the agreement of the Chancellor for the Exchequer and Cabinet Secretary. It follows an internal recruitment exercise.
  
• Jim Harra has been interim Chief Executive since 1 October 2019 and Second Permanent Secretary since January 2018.
  
• Previously Jim held the dual role of Tax Assurance Commissioner and Director General Customer Strategy and Tax Design in HMRC.
  
• Jim Harra’s career began in HMRC’s predecessor, the Inland Revenue as a tax inspector in 1984, and held a number of director-level positions becoming director general for business tax in 2012.
  
• Arrangements to appoint a successor as Second Permanent Secretary will be announced in due course.
  

Btw, I sense HMRC (even ultra-long-term) staffers are NOT AT ALL impressed by @jimharra

Purely based on some comments we've seen following his recent internal update.

Frankly, he fares pretty shite in their own view.
Says a lot, doesn't it?@ken_frost @PMTC15

— HMRC - Sir Thom Jonson, Chief Excuse Officer (@HMRCon) October 29, 2019

Tax does have to be taxing.

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Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

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HMRC Keeping It Real!

In recent evidence to the Treasury Committee, HMRC’s director general for customer compliance, Penny Ciniewiczis said that HMRC is exploring how it can better analyse live data to identify people who are being drawn into tax-avoidance schemes.

Apparently HMRC is now piloting various new approaches ways to identify tax-avoidance schemes, because they are rarely disclosed by the companies that sell them.

Included in these pilots is a programme of work monitoring Pay As You Earn and other “real-time” data for indications that people may be getting drawn into tax-avoidance schemes, before contacting them in an attempt to “steer them away”.

Let's see how that goes then!

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Budget's Off!

NEW: Treasury source: “Parliament has voted for a delay. We're calling for an election, so we won't be delivering the Budget on November 6.”

— Beth Rigby (@BethRigby) October 24, 2019

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Mel Stride Wins Chair of Treasury Committee

Some surprise in corners of the Conservative Party that Mel Stride won so easily - he is a hate figure for campaigners against HMRC's loan charge, which he oversaw at the Treasury. Says one Tory: "He was the only candidate we were asked not to support." https://t.co/FO7ag5CG0U

— Patrick Maguire (@patrickkmaguire) October 23, 2019

New Chair of the Treasury Committee @MelJStride has said that he is thrilled to be elected, and that the immediate focus of the Committee will be on #Brexit, #Budget2019 and scrutinising the appointment of the new Governor of the Bank of England. pic.twitter.com/XAECYppTeo

— Treasury Committee (@CommonsTreasury) October 23, 2019

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

HMRC Clamping Down on Avoidance Scheme Enablers

HMRC is clamping down on the promoters and enablers of tax avoidance schemes in an effort to stop situations like the loan charge happening in the future.

Speaking at a Treasury select committee evidence session on October 22, Penny Ciniewicz, HMRC’s director general of customer compliance, said the department was “doubling the resources” it had involved in tackling those in the 'avoidance supply chain'.

This includes companies and people ranging from the designers of schemes to accountants and financial advisers who recommend the schemes to their clients.

Ms Ciniewicz said:

“We have more than 100 current investigations into promoters [and enablers] and we’re keeping a very close eye on the market for avoidance.

We are spotting schemes as they emerge and we’re tackling them.”

Avoidance is legal, evasion is illegal.

The issue with the loan charge scheme is that it was deemed to be illegal, and then HMRC went after people who had used it before it was deemed illegal (ie there is a retrospective element to this).

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

HMRC Spends £7M on O365

On 22 January, HMRC received Cabinet Office approval to spend £4.9m on O365 software. The green light for an additional outlay of £850,000 was granted exactly two months later.

Public Technology reports that in Q1 of the current financial year HMRC spent an additional £1.2m on rolling out Microsoft’s Office 365 technology, taking total spending on the deployment to about £7m.

O365 is Microsoft’s flagship hosted software product, and offers cloud-based versions of a range of popular productivity programs, such as Word, Excel, and Outlook.

Is this money well spent?


Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"