Goldman Sachs ‘escapes paying $16million bill in sweetheart deal with the taxman’

Anger at Goldman Sachs is growing after it was claimed the taxman let the banking giant off a £10million bill for fear of reopening a £30m legal dispute over bonuses.

Goldman received a ‘sweetheart’ deal in which HM Revenue and Customs waived interest on a bill for National Insurance contributions on bankers’ bonuses, according to the Financial Times.

The bank owed the Government £30m in back taxes after moving bonuses offshore – and this amounted to £40m including interest.

The HMRC admits to errors over governance procedures and to failing to collect the £10m interest – in the mistaken belief there was a ‘legal impediment’ to doing so.