David Anthony Hartnett
CB (born ) is a former
British civil servant who served as the Permanent Secretary for Tax at
HM Revenue and Customs
HM Revenue and Customs (His Majesty's Revenue and Customs, or HMRC) is a non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial Departments of the United Kingdom Government, department of the His Majesty's Government, UK Government responsible fo ...
(HMRC) until his retirement in July 2012. Following his retirement he advised
HSBC
HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tri ...
on financial crime governance alongside former Director General of the
Serious Organised Crime Agency
The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) was a non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom which existed from 1 April 2006 until 7 October 2013. SOCA was a national law enforcement agency with Home Office sponsorship ...
,
Bill Hughes.
Early life
Hartnett studied Classics at the
University of Birmingham
, mottoeng = Through efforts to heights
, established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...
, graduating in 1973.
Career
Hartnett joined the then
Inland Revenue
The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation ta ...
in 1976. As a graduate tax inspector, he spent his first 10 years in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
.
[ He advanced to the position of Director of Capital and Savings in 1998.] Following the merger of the Inland Revenue and HM Customs & Excise
HM Customs and Excise (properly known as Her Majesty's Customs and Excise at the time of its dissolution) was a department of the British Government formed in 1909 by the merger of HM Customs and HM Excise; its primary responsibility was th ...
in 2004, he became HMRC's Director General for Customer Contact and Compliance Strategy and then Director General for Business.
He was one of Her Majesty's Commissioners of Revenue and Customs, the formal governing board of HMRC, from the board's creation in 2005 until his retirement, having previously been a board member of the Inland Revenue. On the Board, he acted as Director General of Policy and Technical.
When Paul Gray resigned as chairman following the loss of the Child Benefit database, Hartnett took over the post in an acting capacity. After permanent replacements were appointed, Mike Clasper
Michael Clasper CBE (born 21 April 1953) is the British Chairman of Coats Group plc (formerly Guinness Peat Group plc (GPG)) and the former chairman of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) (2008-2012).
Education
He has an MA in Engineeri ...
as non-executive chairman and Lesley Strathie
Dame Lesley Ann Strathie, DCB (née Cooke; 24 September 1955 – 14 January 2012) was a British senior civil servant.
Lesley Ann Cooke was born in Stranraer, Scotland in 1955. She married David Strathie in 1974; the couple divorced in 1996). The ...
as Chief Executive, Hartnett was appointed to a new post of Second Permanent Secretary for Tax, with responsibility for tax professionalism.
In May 2013, Hartnett became a consultant to the tax firm Deloitte
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of profession ...
.
Incorrect income tax collection
In September 2010 Hartnett was widely criticised for refusing to apologise for the HMRC issue which involved millions of people being required to pay due but uncollected tax. It was claimed that HMRC had failed to collect PAYE
A pay-as-you-earn tax (PAYE), or pay-as-you-go (PAYG) in Australia, is a withholding of taxes on income payments to employees. Amounts withheld are treated as advance payments of income tax due. They are refundable to the extent they exceed tax as ...
correctly. He told BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
"I'm not sure I need to apologise ...We didn't get it wrong." He later issued an unreserved apology, though no PAYE error had been identified.
Corporate tax avoidance
For a period after October 2010, protesters blockaded and protested outside Vodafone
Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...
stores across the UK following allegations of tax evasion of up to £6 billion, illustrated in a series of articles in ''Private Eye
''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satire, satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely r ...
''. These articles alleged preferential treatment of Vodafone due to personal connections between Hartnett and John Connors, Vodafone's head of tax, a former colleague at HMRC.
In May 2011 ''Private Eye'' alleged Hartnett personally "shook hands" on a deal over a long-running tax avoidance dispute with Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...
dating back to 2002, without consulting HMRC lawyers, letting the US bank off around £10m in interest. Complaints from HMRC informants that Hartnett personally intervened in settlement cases and agreed to "sweetheart deals" with no explanation or consultation with lawyers have also been published. In October 2011, ''The Guardian'' published leaked papers regarding the deal.
Hartnett was presented by activists from UK Uncut
UK Uncut was a network of United Kingdom-based protest groups established in October 2010 to protest against cuts to public services and tax avoidance in the UK. Various sources have described the group as left-wing in its political orientati ...
with a spoof "Golden Handshake award" at a dinner in New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...
honouring his retirement in September 2012. Several activists had donned evening dress and name badges to indicate that they were from Vodafone and Goldman Sachs, and effused over Hartnett's help in saving those companies billions of pounds in taxes. Robert Venables QC, who was at the dinner, first told the intruders to "depart immediately, before we set the dogs on you", before finally ejecting them with the final words "You are trespassing scum. Go".
While HMRC boss, Hartnett negotiated a tax deal that granted HSBC
HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tri ...
's bankers virtually guaranteed immunity from prosecution for any crimes they might have committed relating to tax fraud in Switzerland. Later in January 2013, he moved on to work at HSBC.
Corporate hospitality
Hartnett was named by City University London
City, University of London, is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, and a member institution of the federal University of London. It was founded in 1894 as the Northampton Institute, and became a university when The City Univ ...
in July 2010 as the most "wined and dined" civil servant in Britain, having been treated to corporate hospitality 107 times over a period of three years.
He stated that his approach to tax disputes with large corporations was "handling disputes in a non-confrontational way and collaborating with customers wherever possible". Harnett claims that this approach secured larger settlements of tax collected faster and more cheaply than if HMRC had taken the taxpayers to court, but this is disputed by ''Private Eye'', who cite particular deals made by Harnett including the arrangement with Vodafone that lost the exchequer approximately £6 billion.
Honours
Hartnett was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath
Companion may refer to:
Relationships Currently
* Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance
* A domestic partner, akin to a spouse
* Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach
* Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...
(CB) in the 2003 New Year Honours.
Personal life
In 1977, Hartnett married Aileen Patricia Mary O'Dempsey; the couple have three children.Official Who's Who website
She works as a divorce lawyer, and they live in
St Albans
St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...
, Hertfordshire.
References
Offices held
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartnett, Dave
1951 births
Living people
Chairmen of HM Revenue and Customs
Companions of the Order of the Bath
Place of birth missing (living people)
British people of Irish descent
Alumni of the University of Birmingham
Deloitte people
HSBC people