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February 12th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
By
George Arbuthnott and Andrew Buckwell
Last updated at 1:09 PM on 12th February 2012
Under pressure: Dave Hartnett has been criticised for his involvement in signing off a deal that saved Goldman Sachs up to £20 million in tax
Britain’s top tax official has spent thousands of pounds of public funds on extravagant transatlantic trips, including a stay in a luxury £350- a-night beachside Florida hotel.
Dave Hartnett, permanent secretary for tax at Revenue Customs, racked up £10,245 in expenses over nine months last year.
The under-fire boss is retiring early after receiving fierce criticism over his involvement in signing off a deal that saved Goldman Sachs, one of the world’s richest banks, up to £20 million in tax. The 60-year-old has also been accused of overseeing a decision to let Vodafone off as much as £7 billion, which the mobile phones giant was claimed to owe the public purse.
Last month, MPs said tax chiefs’ ‘cosy’ relationship with big business had led them to let corporate giants off tax bills of up to £25 billion.
Despite the accusations, Mr Hartnett last year claimed £2,951 for a trip to Florida and Panama, during which he was wined and dined by some of the world’s largest companies.
In return, the tax boss delivered a 40-minute presentation on UK tax policy at a two-day conference sponsored by KPMG, one of the biggest international accountancy concerns.
At the March conference, Mr Hartnett stayed at the five-star Westin Diplomat Hotel. His £447 bill could have reserved him an ocean view for the night and, after racking up £368 of phone calls during the trip, he had the option of letting off steam in a private cabana around the hotel’s pool.
Posh Paris: Mr Hartnett claimed a total of £1,377 for two three-day trips to Paris
He then jetted to Panama where he was hosted by the British ambassador in his personal residence until the end of his seven-day foreign trip.
And he enjoyed another taxpayer-funded visit to the US in January last year. He claimed £1,005 expenses for the trip, during which he relaxed among the opulent surroundings of the Intercontinental Hotel between meetings at the OECD Forum on Tax Administration in Washington.
He also claimed a total of £1,377 for two three-day visits to Paris in April and May. On three occasions, Mr Hartnett stayed at the British ambassador’s residence in Switzerland. He claimed £211 for board and lodging during the visits, which Revenue Customs says was the amount the ambassador charged for the overnight stays.
Mr Hartnett has criticised people who pay cash in hand for ‘diddling’ the economy at a time of austerity.
Luxury accommodation: Mr Hartnett’s bill at the Westin Diplomat Hotel totalled £447
However, the tax chief – despite being paid £160,000 a year and having a pension pot said to be worth £1.7 million – claimed £180 in the same period for ‘personal expenses’ and £1,195 for taxi expenses, on top of the £5,905 for air fares.
It seems unlikely Mr Hartnett will be short of suitors looking to acquire his expertise once he retires. He has previously been dubbed ‘the most wined and dined mandarin’ after it emerged he had been taken out for meals 107 times in three years.
The parliamentary hospitality register shows KPMG treated Mr Hartnett to dinner at the Savoy Grill, where caviar costs £140 and Pol Roger champagne is £875 a bottle. He met KPMG representatives a further ten times between January and September.
And despite fury over their tax deal, Mr Hartnett met Goldman Sachs’s accountant, PricewaterhouseCoopers, 12 times in the same period.
Mr Hartnett has always denied allegations he is too soft on big business. A Revenue Customs spokesman said: ‘Dave Hartnett is not seeking employment with any of the businesses with whom he met in 2011.’
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Its a lot easier for them to chase up tupperware, Jamie oliver and other home party organizers who cant afford £ 875 for a bottle of bribe bubbly
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they should all be made to fly economy if the tax payers are paying if they want to fly business or first they should pay the upgrade themselves,if they were made to pay to stay in expensive hotels or just allowed allowances for up to 3 star the country would save a fortune . this should go or ll the parties.
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Another top civil servant at the trough.
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Just copying his pollie bosses!
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And these people will hound some poor mother earing £20 a week on the side for cleaning, put her through the courts, discrace her in the newspapers and probably have her children taken from her. Where is the Justice.
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Come on Cameron get a grip on these civil servants who are spending/wasting tax payers money on high living. These good for nothing’s should do what I have to pay for my own flights and hotels. They are parasites on the poor old taxpayer.
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jamesjames, grays;
Has summed it all up for us.
I know most of these people where shoed in during the Blair/Brown years, but it doesn’t really matter, it’s business as usual.
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His he retiring early to avoid a posible investigation, the same as his peons do to every hardworking person in this country who may be easy pray to extract money from. i smell a cover up. no doubt he will end up on the board of some finacial instution within 6 months of jumping ship.
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The small poor business person who can not afford to entertain the boss of the tax service will be clobbered for every thing they own, while the multi billion corporation wi get their tax written off; so justice, what else do you expect?
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Diddler!
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