A government tax adviser has resigned after he was secretly filmed offering tips on how to keep money “out of the Chancellor’s grubby mits”, according to reports.
David Heaton, a member of a panel advising HM Revenue and Customs on tackling tax avoidance, had spoken at a London conference, “101 ideas for personal tax planning,” the Financial Times said.
He stepped down after he was recorded by BBC’s Panorama programme outlining the advantages of planning tax, which he reportedly said included ways to keep the money from George Osborne’s “grubby mitts”.
He was also filmed describing a maternity scheme he called the Bump Plan, according to the BBC.
Mr Heaton reportedly said: “Ninety per cent of what you pay out ends up with the employee. You can’t really knock that one.”
He explained that by deliberately timing bonuses to enable an increased rebate on maternity pay, the tax paid on the bonus would effectively fall from 41.8% to just 8.4%, the BBC said.
Two months after the conference, which took place in June, Mr Heaton started work on the HMRC panel to advise on artificial and aggressive tax avoidance.
Mr Osborne was reportedly told about the comments – to be broadcast by the BBC on Monday – before flying to a meeting of European finance ministers in Lithuania.
Mr Heaton initially denied doing anything wrong, but his resignation was announced on Friday, the BBC said.
Treasury minister David Gauke told the BBC: “Mr Heaton’s statements are directly at odds with the government’s approach to tackling tax avoidance, therefore it is right that Mr Heaton resigns from his position.”