Mr Hartnett was not told in advance of the interview with Panorama that the bank in question was Lloyds, but details of the secret filming have since been passed to his department, prompting the investigation. Were we to find that happening we would take a very dim view of it." We might interpret that to mean he was so reckless that he was giving his client a signal that he didn't have to make a return of income. When told of the practice, Dave Hartnett, permanent secretary at HMRC, said: "That's an incredibly irresponsible thing for him to have said. The banker replied: "It's of no interest to us whether you tell the tax man or not. Panorama's John Sweeney investigates off-shore banking The undercover customer told the Lloyds employee that he wanted to avoid paying tax and asked about reporting income to Inland Revenue.
Lloyds was rescued last year with a £17bn bailout by the UK government. If that investment or interest income was paid directly from Jersey, then the recipient would be liable to pay the EU savings tax. In response, Lloyds denied any wrongdoing in its offshore practices and said it has suspended the employee in question pending an internal investigation.ĭuring the secret filming, the employee at the branch of Lloyds TSB Offshore told the undercover customer that income earned on deposits made in the tax haven is paid to clients via Hong Kong to "get round" the European Savings Tax Directive. The advice from an employee at the Jersey branch of the bank bailed out by taxpayers was secretly filmed for the BBC by a man posing as a client with £4m to invest. Lloyds Banking Group is being investigated by British tax officials over allegations that wealthy clients are being encouraged to avoid UK taxes by channelling money through China, a BBC Panorama investigation reveals.
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