Comment & Analysis: Leading article: Cosy tax deals: Inland Revenue needs cross-examining.

(From The Guardian)

There could be few more poignant paradoxes than the sight of Gordon Brown spearheading a crackdown on international tax havens, while back at home there is a growing sense that Britain is failing to extract the dues owed by this country's wealthy and powerful elite. The problem appears to lie with our tax collectors. There is mounting evidence that the Inland Revenue is favouring rich taxpayers and ensuring others are contributing disproportionately to the exchequer.

As Nick Davies pointed out last week in the Guardian, the charges levelled at the Revenue have been left unanswered by its chairman, Sir Nicholas Montagu - possibly in the …