In a move revealed to staff two weeks ago, the acting chairman of HMRC Dave Hartnett said he had brought in four top-level advisers ‘to provide specialist advice on achieving the department’s capability review and data security goals’. The four are Kheraj; former CBI chief economist Kate Barker CBE; former HBOS group finance officer Phil Hodkinson; and retired Unilever CFO Rudy Markham.

The group will work closely with senior officials and attend the executive committee meetings for six months, as lessons emerge from PwC chairman Kieran Poynter’s data review. The department’s capability review identified confused management accountabilities as the root of HMRC’s problems. It is thought this is where the advisers’ views are most keenly sought.

Kheraj took a robust view of Barclays’ tax obligations when he was CFO, warning government that ‘arbitrary changes to tax or regulation could result in the UK being a less competitive place to locate important parts of the financial services industry’.

Barclays also agreed a £300m transfer pricing settlement in 2006 and was forced to hand over details of clients’ offshore accounts in HMRC’s drive against evasion.