http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16253205
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A committee of MPs has criticised "cosy" deals between HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and big businesses over how they settle their tax bills.
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The MPs believe there are £25bn of outstanding tax issues with big companies and wants HMRC to be more open in its dealing with large firms.
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The committee singled out Dave Hartnett, permanent secretary for tax, for failing to handle tax negotiations with some big companies properly.
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The MPs accuse Dave Hartnett of mishandling tax negotiations with some big companies such as Goldman Sachs, letting it off millions of pounds in interest on its tax bill.
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Margaret Hodge MP, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said: "This report is a damning indictment of HMRC and the way its senior officials handle tax disputes with large corporations."
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The MPs say he:
1/authorised a large tax settlement whose negotiation he had been involved in, breaching HMRC's internal rules
2/had given "imprecise, inconsistent and potentially misleading answers" to MPs
3/had relationships with big companies that were "too cosy", resulting in the appearance they received "preferential treatment"
4/had used a bogus excuse of observing taxpayer confidentiality to avoid explaining the tax deals he had been involved in.
Seems to be one law for them and another for us mere mortals.
