HM Revenue & Customs has appointed two new commissioners with tax expertise to oversee large tax settlements, after controversy surrounding deals made with Vodafone and Goldman Sachs.

Sir Gus O’Donnell announced the appointments at an evidence hearing by the public accounts committee (PAC) last week. In earlier evidence sessions, the committee had raised concerns that a lack of tax-specialist commissioners meant there was not proper scrutiny of large deals.

O’Donnell told PAC that the department is looking at other ways to “extend external accountability” and bring “extra accountability in terms of external professional input into these large deals”.

HMRC’s permanent secretary for tax, Dave Hartnett, explained that the department is exploring seven options, and will report to ministers with fully developed proposals by the end of the year.

Earlier in the session, committee chair Margaret Hodge took the unusual step of forcing HMRC’s senior counsel Anthony Inglese give his evidence under oath, after MPs became increasingly frustrated with Inglese’s insistence that he could not answer certain questions due to
legal privilege.

Click here to see all news and features from Civil Service World

Written by CSW