Friday 1 February 2013

Wake up and smell the revolving door

Apparently random snippets compiled by Bob E.

Office of Tax Simplification 17 January 2013:

The OTS is looking to recruit experienced tax professionals on short term [unpaid] secondments for its review into employee benefits and expenses. Further details of the role can be found in the job specification below. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2013. Please refer to the employee benefits and expenses page for full terms of reference for the review.

Daily Mail 30 January 2013:

Britain's top taxman – who stepped down after he was accused by MPs of lying – has been hired by HSBC to advise it on honesty, it emerged last night. In an explosive move, the bank has appointed Dave Hartnett, the former head of HM Revenue and Customs, as an adviser to ‘enforce the highest standards’ at the firm.

Daily Mail 1 February 2013:

It also emerged that the companies all send senior tax partners to HMRC or the Treasury to help draft new legislation. When they return to their firms, the companies use the new-found knowledge of loopholes to devise new ways for corporations to avoid paying full dues to the taxman.

HM Revenue and Customs, Corporate Governance:

HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC) Non-Executive Directors are senior business figures from outside the department who bring a diverse mix of expertise and skills from across both public and private sector...

Their "non-executive directors" include:

Ian Barlow, who spent 37 years with KPMG
Colin Cobain, who was formerly Chief Information Officer of Tesco
Philippa Hird, who was until recently Group Human Resources Director of ITV
Volker Beckers, who has been Group Chief Executive of RWE Npower since January 2010
Norman Pickavance, who was most recently Group HR and Communications Director of WM Morrisons Supermarkets Plc*
John Whiting, who was a tax partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers for 25 years

* Why do they give the full name of this company, but not for the others?

3 comments:

john b said...

Your * point is easy - the bios for this kind of project are written by the non-execs themselves (or their corporate comms departments for the ones who're still employed by big companies), and pasted together with minimal editing by the website copy editor.

Mark Wadsworth said...

JB, for sure. But it still looks shit.

john b said...

Oh yes. If I was web editor for a project like that... hmm.

If I was web editor for a project like that and I was 22 with no CV, I'd have sorted everything out and made it look aces.

On the other hand, if I was web editor for a project like that, taking a 75% paycut and an awful job to make rent, then I'd give the exact same amount of a shit as the person who is clearly web editor on that website.

The latter outcome would also be realised if I were 22 and incompetent, which is also common.