Revealed: 'Sweetheart' tax deals each worth over £1bn
Exclusive: Four corporations that reached settlements worth £4.5bn between them are among those let off lightly
"The scale of the government's "sweetheart" tax deals - individual secret agreements drawn up between tax officials and corporations to settle disputes - can be revealed for the first time after previously unseen documents showed that just four settlements were worth £4.5bn between them.
A leaked document sent by Dave Hartnett, the former head of tax at HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), to David Gauke, the exchequer secretary at the Treasury, discloses the figure, which has not been released by HMRC before on the grounds of preserving "taxpayer confidentiality".
The document describes deals in excess of £1bn as "not uncommon". The size of the figure has been seized upon by MPs and tax campaigners who want HMRC to release details of how much tax was owed by each of the four unnamed companies before the deals were struck..."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/apr/29/sweetheart-tax-deals 