Troup is currently HM Treasury’s director general for tax and welfare, and his title will be tax assurance commissioner and second permanent secretary at HMRC, according to an HMRC statement. He will also sit on HMRC’s executive committee, the statement said, after taking up his post in August.
Troup, who will be responsible for shaping tax policy and strategy, will report to HMRC chief executive Lin Homer.
Troup began his career as a tax lawyer, working with Simmons & Simmons, until joining HM Treasury as a special adviser on tax in 1995. He then returned to Simmons & Simmons in 1997, before rejoining the Treasury in 2004 as director of business and indirect tax.
Hartnett had originally been expected to retire before now, but stayed on while Homer, who joined the Revenue in January, settled into the CEO role. His plans to leave for good this summer were announced last December.
Role in setting up LDF
Hartnett, who began his career with the Inland Revenue in 1976, is respected and admired by many in the industry. He was involved in helping to construct the popular tax “amnesty” scheme known as the Liechtenstein disclosure facility, whereby Britons with undisclosed assets held in overseas bank accounts are able to come clean by transferring them to Liechtenstein and declaring them, in return for reduced penalties and back taxes.
As reported last month, more than 2,400 people thus far have come forward under the LDF, and HMRC now says that based on the current rate of disclosures, it may bring in as much as three times the £1bn in revenue it was projected to, “from a much larger number of people”.
Still, Hartnett has also been the subject of controversy during his time at HMRC, notably for his role in negotiating corporate tax dispute settlements with major companies like Vodafone and Goldman Sachs.
Meanwhile, also at HMRC, Ian Barlow has been named lead non-executive director, succeeding Mike Clasper, whose contract is ending. Barlow has been chairman of WSP Group plc, and has has held a wide range of appointments in the public, not-for-profit and private sectors.
