The outgoing boss of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has admitted to MPs that she is \u201cnot a tax expert.\u201d<\/p>\n
MPs were left incredulous by Dame Lin Homer\u2019s admission during yesterday\u2019s session of Parliament\u2019s Public Accounts Committee.<\/p>\n
During proceedings the chief executive faced a ferocious grilling over the tax authority\u2019s recent deal with Google \u2013 an agreement which has been widely criticised by both politicians and members of the public.<\/p>\n
During questioning the senior civil servant – who recently announced she was leaving the organisation after four years – was asked how many tax experts worked at HMRC, an enquiry she directed to a colleague sitting next to her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think I would regard myself as a deep expert [on tax],\u201d said Dame Lin.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am the least tax expert and I don\u2019t sit on any of the hearings.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was another difficult day for HMRC, who may have hoped to use the session to address public anger about the \u00a3130million \u201csweetheart deal\u201d they had thrashed out with Google.<\/p>\n
Meg Hillier, who chairs the committee, said that too many questions had been left unanswered.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came away from the committee feeling frustrated,\u201d admitted the Labour MP.<\/p>\n
\u201cTalking about tax can be endlessly frustrating, and today we didn\u2019t get to hear enough of the truth.<\/p>\n
\u201cTaxpayers are right to be angry because the situation isn\u2019t clear enough. Instead of the clear facts, we saw Google stressing its commitment to transparency over and over, without actually revealing what we needed to hear.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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