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February 12th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
By
George Arbuthnott and Andrew Buckwell
Last updated at 10:05 PM on 11th 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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check he didnt have a receipt for a HAIR CUT. WHO is responsible for this creature because we should get THEM to.
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check he didnt have a receipt for a HAIR CUT. WHO is responsible for this creature because we should get THEM to.
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The gravy train in full force. Disgustng
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What do you expect from HMRC … honesty, efficiency, care about Public Money … what are you taking and did you get it from the HMRC.
they have improved since the Coalition took over but that was not difficult but you can turn around the years of Blair and Brown
in a Genies Lantern’s oversold response time … the HMRC like others is fighting every attempt to stop them producing mediocre performance and considering that the world owes them the right to be employed no matter who pays.
Greece may have discovered the bucket is empty but the HMRC is probably the closed to Labour via the Staff Federation like the Police Federation like the BMA and the rest.
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In return, the tax boss delivered a 40-minute presentation on UK tax policy at a two-day …… Wonder if the overpaid, incompetent clown mentioned what a shambles the British tax system is under his leadership. Joe Public hounded for peanuts whilst he and his incompetents let multi-nationals off eye-watering tax bills, threatening letters sent to taxpayers etc. Interesting to see where he will pop up in retirement to earn further sums to add to his ill earned taxpayer booty. A nice little earner in some government department or some quango?
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Probably not seeking employment because the businesses dealt with in 2011 have already offered it to him. Or a shell company in Nairu did. But seriously folks; when the first cuts hit HMRC staff coud not get a first class stamp on a letter to a ‘customer’ without a signature from a Grade 7 or higher (that grade is the very bottom of the ‘middle senior’ ranks). I know staff are buying their own stationery at times. They have to get permission to do anything at all that costs money such as travelling. We really are all in this together folks.
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I an suck and tired of public servants behaving like this. He should have been sacked and lost his pension.
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More of a Satsuma than a Mandarin!
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Unaccountable, Unelectable and Untouchable.
Welcome to the world of Public Sector la la la land.
The sad thing is that nothing will happen now and in a years time another classic abuse of public funds will come to the attention of the media.
Having moved from the real world to public sector land 6 years ago, I see things like this happen all the time.
And nothing will change, because no one really cares.
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So HMRC hound the little people for Hartnett and others to swan around on the world stage living high on the hog while cutting sweetheart deals with multi-nationals…and the Treasury has the audacity to plead poverty!
The “we are all in it together” could be a line from Animal Farm when it comes to HMRC, hopefully they will get their comeuppance if a European Spring ever occurs.
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