Under-fire HMRC executive to retire

David Hartnett, the under-fire Permanent Secretary of Tax to Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) us to retire from his post next summer, amid speculation that it is down to pressure from accumulating gaffes in the tax body. Mr Hartnett has been under mounting criticism for signing off an agreement with investment banking giant, Goldman Sachs, that let them off a £10 million tax bill. The 60-year-old had also been criticised by the MPs on the powerful Public Administration Committee, who last month accused him of being “cavalier” with public funds. He had also been raked over the coals by the Treasury department for the fiasco that let thousands of workers lumbered with hefty tax bills, after mistakenly being given the wrong tax codes. He was forced to make a public apology for the matter by the Chancellor, after at first refusing to do so. It is thought that HMRC could be mustering itself for potential further controversies, caused by an internal revolution by a group of workers who are unhappy with the way that HMRC is being run and have already established crucial contacts with national media sources. Addressing the matter of Mr Hartnett’s retirement, an HMRC spokesman said, “Dave Hartnett has neither resigned nor been sacked. He has chosen to retire in the summer of 2012 aged 61.”

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