Jolyon Maugham has posted an important blog this morning. It features a recording made by an old friend of this blog, Richard Allen, who is a massively important and effective tax campaigner, mainly on VAT.
In the blog Jo features a recording Richard covertly made of a conversation with HMRC in late 2015. Jo publishes it using a public interest defence, which I support. The conversation is with a person who called Guy Westhead. As Jo notes:
Guy Westhead [was]a senior member of HMRC's team dealing with VAT policy, and a Mr Richard Allen that took place in late 2015.
At the time of the conversation, Guy Westhead was a senior HMRC officer. During the conversation he described himself as being one level below the Director of Indirect Tax at HMRC. Below is a photo, taken several months after the covertly recorded conversation, of him sitting behind the then Financial Secretary to the Treasury, David Gauke. Mr Gauke was, at the time, appearing in a debate before the Backbench Business Committee on VAT Evasion and Internet Retailers.
In that conversation a key moment comes in this exchange:
RA: What worries me is that ministers have some kind of agenda to basically not annoy Amazon. If Amazon does something illegal Amazon has to be punished in my view. In America they tried things like “that's it we are not building a warehouse in your State” and all this sort of stuff…
GW: I've heard of that. I've heard from the Treasury; the Treasury didn't want us to be too hard on Amazon. But I think that was a brackets “yet” close brackets.
Just think about that for a moment. What the HMRC official is saying is explosive.
First, the Treasury appears to be directing HMRC in the management of a taxpayer's affairs. That is not meant to happen.
Second, the implication is that they were turning an explicit blind eye to fraud that they knew was going on. Were they facilitating the tax gap, for which real people paid through austerity measures that have forced millions into poverty in this country?
Third, the tax evasion in question was criminal: were they were knowingly letting it continue?
Fourth, in the process were they were knowingly undermining small UK business?
Fifth, were they were ensuring HMRC failed in its statutory duties?
Sixth, were there lies to parliament?
Seventh, was legislation promoted that knowingly favoured online retail portals and was knowingly ineffective?
These are not minor suggestions. They suggest corruption at the core of government, and issues do not come much bigger than that in tax.
Questions do need to be asked now: I sincerely hope MPs are up to the task of doing so.
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I wonder how many MPs are confident they have a squeaky clean tax history?
They’ll need it to bring this up.
Sounds like a money laundering offense.
“Sounds like a money laundering offense.”
Sounds like …. exactly what we all ‘know’ goes on but which is difficult to prove and apparently even more difficult to prosecute. Realpolitik says this is the way of the real world.
Sounds like misconduct in public office by all concerned, which remains a criminal offence punishable by up to life in prison. Why isn’t a prosecution being considered? Could we crowd-fund a private prosecution? Richard?
Jo is your man
Ask him via the link to his blog
I find things kind of weird at the moment folks.
There are suggestions about the fact the neo-liberalism is on the way out and then we find out just how well dug they are with cases like this. I appreciate Jolyon’s efforts here and the people involved.
But when the rest of the public’s attention is being diverted towards worries over the fact that Russia has better military toys than us or debating whether Jordon Peterson bettered Kath Newman during an interview, I do wonder if enough of us give a damn about what can only be described as the capture of our democracy by rich vested interests?
Pilgrim Slight Return says:
January 24 2018 at 7:20 am
“I find things kind of weird at the moment folks.” No, Pilgrim, this isn’t weird it’s normal.
“I do wonder if enough of us give a damn about what can only be described as the capture of our democracy by rich vested interests?”
No there are definitely not enough of us giving a damn. Still too many people just hanging on hoping something will turn up. And too many still doing OKthankyouverymuch.
You know the frog in the bucket analogy presumably. (?) The average water temperature is still in the domestic bathwater range.
Pilgrim,
The ruling elite in any declining regime become more decadent and corrupt “on the way out” not less so.
I ‘ve notice this already Marco.
But that decadence also finds itself rooted in the rest of society – in the film ‘The Four Horseman’ it identifies a number tell-tale signs of national decline picked up by historians as signs that you are on the way out so to speak:
1) The veneration of chefs/cook and food (think Nigella / Jamie BishBashBosh / The Great British
Bake Off).
2) The veneration and over-paying of sports stars (think Premiershit (sic) football / Tennis / Golf –
apparently had ancient Rome’s Gladiators had their pay adjusted for inflation they’d have
been multi-millionaires today).
3) The prevalence of sex in society (think of how the financial sector works with the escort
industry / look at the prevalence and availability of porn on the internet and porn chic / culture
going more mainstream / and what about the recent furore over Family Minister ‘Nasty’
Zahawi ‘s visit to the so-called Presidents Club?
I remember when such establishments were discretely hidden – now you can find pole dancing clubs opening up in a fanfare and people celebrating the ‘jobs’ they bring as if it is completely normal.
So it won’t just be those at the top who suffer when it all comes down.
And that remains a big worry.
I think that’s right, Marco. I believe it is an observed phenomenon.
Also likely to become more reckless and dangerous. Last chance saloon for settling old scores aswell.