The taxman’s CFO was granted an £88,000 payout when he left HM Revenue & Customs, despite leaving by ‘mutual agreement’.

The payment drew the criticism of the House of Commons Treasury Sub-committee last week, which lambasted senior officials at HMRC.

The sub-committee questioned HMRC management, including chairman Mike Clasper and chairman and permanent secretary for tax Dave Hartnett over the payout to Stuart Cruickshank.

The sum is believed to include costs for Cruickshank’s legal advice and ‘outplacement counselling’.

Cruickshank’s tenure in the position was fleeting, having only begun in December 2006.
George Mudie, Labour MP for Leeds East, pressed officials for an explanation, saying, ‘If we are paying somebody £88,000 to break their contract ... they should be paying us.’

Hartnett told the committee that Cruickshank had not necessarily wanted to go ‘at that time’ and agreed to provide further details of the payout. ‘We needed a chief finance officer committed to HMRC,’ he said, adding that he had left by ‘mutual agreement’.

Mudie said HMRC should declare details of termination provisions in HMRC contracts, including that of newly appointed chief executive officer Lesley Strathie.

Hartnett said Strathie is under a normal civil service contract.

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, condemned the payout. ‘This is a large bill that taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay. The payout also sets a damaging precedent that contracts can be broken and you will still be rewarded,’ he said.