HMRC in Dock Over Goldman Sachs Deal

The pressure group UK Uncut is to start legal action against HM Revenue & Customs over allegations that it let the investment bank Goldman Sachs off paying up to £20m in outstanding tax.

The organisation, which wants the government to crack down on tax avoidance by large corporations and the very wealthy, says HMRC has not been sufficiently open about the details of the alleged tax deal with Goldman Sachs. It has applied for a judicial review of HMRC’s actions, according to the Guardian.

Richard Stein from the solicitors Leigh Day & Co, who is taking the case, told the paper: ‘We wrote to the HMRC in October asking them to quash the deal and reclaim the millions unpaid in taxes from one of the world's richest banks but received no response. We chased again in November and they claimed they needed more time.

‘They have now replied with what we feel is an extremely weak argument as to why this decision cannot be reversed, therefore, we will now progress this legal action and issue proceedings in the high court.’

Tim Street, director of UK Uncut Legal Action said: ‘There is overwhelming public support from unions, NGOs, MPs and thousands of ordinary people who want to see this dodgy tax deal challenged in the courts.’

The HMRC has disputed the figure of a £20m tax write-off and said there was no ‘systematic failure’ in its dealing with Goldman Sachs.