The Dangers of Dissent - HMRC Harassment

The Guardian reports that Osita Mba, a solicitor with HMRC who turned whistleblower on HMRC's deal with the giant vampire squid (Goldman Sachs), is facing disciplinary proceedings (possibly dismissal and prosecution) for telling the National Audit Office (NAO) and two parliamentary committees about his concerns over the deal.

Mr Mba has worked for HMRC for four years, and apparently has knowledge of the vampire squid deal.

 

Mr Mba made the disclosure to the NAO and parliament under whistleblowing legislation which, theoretically, is meant to protect whistleblowers from prosecution etc.

It seems that HMRC think otherwise, and have launched an inquiry into Mr Mba's conduct. He has been barred from entering his office at Westminster unless he has a personal escort from his line manager, and has been summoned to a meeting.

MPs are less than impressed with HMRC's treatment of Mr Mba. Margaret Hodge, chair of the committee, said:

"Whistleblowers play such an important role that the previous government brought in legislation to protect them.

Mr Mba's evidence has been crucial in uncovering not just specific but systemic problems in HMRC's secretive relationship with big corporations.

This is harassment and is completely unacceptable."

Stephen Barclay, a Conservative MP on the committee, said:

 "We have already seen how whistleblowers from the health world have been stopped from disclosing information by their managers. It appears that a similar obstructive approach may now be being followed by Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs.

The committee will be making further inquiries to establish the facts to ensure that the will of parliament is being followed."

HMRC are quoted:

"It is essential that we establish the full facts in order to decide what action to take.

To this end we are carrying out a preliminary leak inquiry following the disclosure, including on the Guardian website, of internal departmental documents which may constitute a serious breach of confidential information.

This is the first time we have had an opportunity to see the documents and we will give careful consideration to this material."

I will be interesting to see which organisation has more power in this particular case and ends up winning, HMRC or parliament. Sadly for Mr Mba, he will be stuck firmly in the middle as the two organisations fight for supremacy.

Tax does have to be taxing.

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What is TAXWISE?

TAXWISE 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 Taxwise

Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

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"

Did HMRC Break The Law?

The Guardian reports that the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is looking into claims, from an HMRC whistleblower, that Dave "Jack" Hartnett's deal with Vodafone to waive £7BN of tax may have been outwith the powers (ultra vires) of HMRC (ie illegal).

The whistleblower also claimed that the agreement that HMRC claimed let the giant vampire squid (Goldman Sachs) off £10M was in fact worth £20M.

£10M here, £10M there; details mere details!

Margaret Hodge, chair of the committee, told the Guardian that she had received the new allegations from someone with an apparent detailed knowledge of the deals and confirmed that a senior counsel may now assess them.

"The main allegation is that senior officials at Revenue and Customs have acted ultra vires [beyond their powers] and we are duty bound to take that seriously."

I wonder if the whistleblower is part of "Dissent"?

Jack has thus far avoided detailed scrutiny by citing legal privilege. That defence, if the allegations are valid, has just been blown out of the water.

However, HMRC is standing by its guns and is quoted:

"We are entirely confident that our approach to large business tax settlements is the right one. This approach has brought in more than £13bn from large businesses since 2006.

We have not seen the material which the Guardian tells us may be referred for counsel's opinion so it would be wrong to comment further....

Dave Hartnett's evidence to the PAC [public accounts committee] is entirely consistent and accurate.

Mr Hartnett made clear that an error occurred and the comptroller and auditor general is on record as saying this error was between £5m and £8m."

This will run and run!

Tax does have to be taxing.

UK EXPATS: Reduce tax on UK Pensions
HMRC QROPS provider. Unlock your UK pension and access a 25% lump sum today.

Quote ID code "ABC" when contacting a QROPS specialist.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

What is TAXWISE?

TAXWISE 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 Taxwise

Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

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"

Dissent

My thanks to a loyal reader who advised me of this rather interesting development concerning certain staff within HMRC setting up an "insider network".

According to Citywire (which itself uses the Daily Mail as a source) the network of 324 HMRC staff members (called "Dissent") will expose the corruption and ineptitude of the department.


Dissent is quoted:

"We wish to speak out against the bad practice and double standards that operate in HMRC. We wish for a fair tax system that does not reward the wealthy elite and big business. 


We have amassed a comprehensive database of personal information on staff members, including expenses, benefits [and] conflicts of interest."

The Mail quotes a spokesman for HMRC, who said that she was aware of Dissent:

"HMRC is proud to be an open organisation which welcomes and encourages the views of all our staff. ‘Anonymous and unconstructive letters are therefore completely unnecessary and irrelevant. 

We have well defined procedures for staff to report any genuine grievances."

In the event that there are members of Dissent who read this site, please feel to make contact with me privately.

It will be interesting to see where this all leads.

Tax does have to be taxing.

UK EXPATS: Reduce tax on UK Pensions
HMRC QROPS provider. Unlock your UK pension and access a 25% lump sum today.

Quote ID code "ABC" when contacting a QROPS specialist.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

What is TAXWISE?

TAXWISE 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 Taxwise

Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

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"