George Osborne says HSBC tax evasion prosecutions not his job

The chancellor says the allegations are very serious but that such decisions are a matter for the prosecuting authorities



George Osborne has washed his hands of responsibility for prosecutions against people who evaded tax through HSBC Switzerland after more than a week of silence on the issue.

The chancellor said the allegations were very serious but such decisions were a matter for the prosecuting authorities - a principle that has been “one of the bulwarks of freedom in this country for hundreds of years”.

“I don’t think it would be right - and actually when you pause to think about it I think most people would agree - I don’t think it would be right for a chancellor of the exchequer to direct prosecutions against individuals or individual companies,” he told an audience at the Tate on the Southbank in London.

HM Revenue and Customs, which is overseen by the chancellor, has come in for criticism over its decision to prioritise collecting money from tax evaders at the troubled HSBC Swiss subsidiary, rather than pursuing criminal cases. Only one person has been prosecuted so far out of more than 1,000 account holders suspected of trying to hide money from the taxman.

Downing Street has so far refused to hold an inquiry into HMRC’s decisions following revelations by the Guardian, the BBC and international media outlets about the extent of evasion by clients of the HSBC Swiss subsidiary and its role in enabling this to happen.

Defending HMRC, Osborne claimed prosecutions for tax evasion have gone up on the coalition’s watch and pointed out that, when he came to office, he said he wanted to see more prosecutions for tax evasion.

“We resourced HMRC accordingly and as a result prosecutions are up fivefold,” he said.

Since the scandal broke, Osborne has been under pressure to answer questions about HMRC’s actions and the government’s decision to hire Lord Green, the former global boss of HSBC, as a trade minister.

He has still not replied to a letter from Labour demanding that he explain his knowledge of the conduct of HSBC’s Swiss subsidiary and the extent to which the Treasury was aware that HMRC had decided to take a light-touch approach to seeking prosecutions for those suspected of tax evasion.

A YouGov survey for the Times Red Box found 62% of people want the chancellor to answer these questions.

Labour is frustrated that the chancellor has avoided questions on the issue for a week, while both Ed Miliband and Ed Balls have been repeatedly pressed on issues such as whether they kept tax receipts for a window cleaner.

In the letter, the shadow chancellor asked whether the selective prosecutions by HMRC were approved by the Treasury. He pointed out that detailed information was passed to the coalition government in May 2010 about 1,100 HSBC clients allegedly guilty of tax evasion or avoidance and yet since then there had been just one prosecution.

Balls also asked Osborne to explain how a Downing Street spokesperson came to claim last week that no government minister had any knowledge of what happened at HSBC, yet the chief executive of HMRC, Lin Homer, has since said she believed that ministers were in fact informed about these files after they were received.

A senior Tory source pointed out that Osborne had in fact already given a little-noticed interview to Sky News in the last week, in which he was asked about the HSBC tax leak. In that, he did not make any direct comment on HSBC but said it was a “cardinal rule as chancellor not to get involved in or know the details of any individual’s or any individual company’s tax affairs”.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/feb/20/george-osborne-says-hsbc-tax-evasion-prosecutions-not-his-job

Get out clause so that he doesn't have to be seen to be prosecuting the very people that the Tory Party get all their money from. Thieves, Liars and Cheats.

Perhaps George is conveniently forgetting this from last November:

Tax debts: HMRC powers to raid bank accounts revised by Treasury

Controversial plans that allow HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to raid bank accounts to collect tax debts have been revised by the Treasury.

Under the revised plans, taxpayers will have longer to appeal before any raid.

Announced by George Osborne in the Budget, the powers allow HMRC to seize assets from anyone who owes more than £1,000 in tax or tax credits, subject to certain safeguards.

But the proposals attracted criticism from banks, MPs and debt charities.

The revised plans also mean that HMRC will have to hold face-to-face meetings with debtors first before taking any money from their accounts.

And under the original safeguards, HMRC said it would not empty debtors' bank accounts completely, but leave at least £5,000 in them.

"It's a good day for taxpayer confidentiality," says Chas Roy-Chowdhury, head of taxation at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

"While ACCA would have preferred the power were not being proposed at all, we consider where we are today is light years better than what was originally being proposed."

Mr Roy-Chowdhury welcomed the fact that vulnerable taxpayers would be "identified and taken out of the process entirely".

Joanna Elson, chief executive of the Money Advice Trust, the charity that runs National Debtline, said the changes were "something of an improvement", but added: "These new powers to raid bank accounts may still be subject to HMRC error, which is far from unknown.

"We remain concerned that this could cause further financial problems for people who are already in difficulty."
Judicial review

Under the revised proposals, the appeal process will be extended from 14 days to 30 days, the Treasury said.

Debtors will have the right to appeal first to HMRC, but if they are still unhappy they will be allowed a further 30 days to appeal to the County Court for independent judicial review.

"Throughout the consultation process, we have maintained that the rule of law should not be undermined," said Anne Fairpo, president of the Chartered Institute of Taxation.

"It is for this reason that we are especially pleased to see changes allowing appeals to the county court."

The Treasury reiterated that these powers would only be used against debtors who had consistently refused to engage with HMRC or pay their debts.

"The Direct Recovery of Debts (DRD), announced by the chancellor in the 2014 Budget, is an important tool in helping to level the playing field between those who pay what they owe, when they owe it, and those who do not," said Financial Secretary to the Treasury, David Gauke.

"Only debtors who have received this face-to-face visit and are not identified as vulnerable, have sufficient money in the bank and have still refused to settle their debts, or enter an appropriate Time to Pay arrangement, will be considered for debt recovery through DRD," he added.

About 17,000 people are estimated to fall into this category, owing £5,800 each on average.

Recovering these debts could return £375m to the Treasury over four years, Budget papers revealed.

But given the new safeguards for debtors, ACCA's Mr Roy-Chowdhury told the BBC: "I would be surprised if more than 1,000 fell into this category within the first year."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30142927