Tax bosses defend £1.3m cost of Redknapp tax trials (From Haringey Independent)

HM Revenue and Customs defend £1.3m cost of Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp tax trials

1:00pm Friday 10th February 2012 in Top Stories By David Hardiman

Officials have “no regrets” about pursuing charges of tax dodging despite the £1.3 million investigation bringing no convictions.

Two separate trials — of Spurs boss Harry Redknapp and former Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric, and of Mandaric and former chief executive Peter Storrie last year – led to the three being cleared of all charges.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said today that the investigation into the allegations had cost the body £300,000, while costs to the Crown Prosecution Service of bringing the case to court had totalled around £1m by the end of last year.

But assistant director of HMRC, Chris Martin, said the body would continue to “relentlessly pursue those we believe are evading tax”.

He said: “I have no regrets about pursuing this case because it was vitally important that the facts were put before a jury for their consideration.

“We accept the verdict of the jury but I would like to remind those who are evading tax by using offshore tax havens that it always makes sense to come forward and talk to us before we come to talk to you.”

Mr Redknapp was acquitted at Southwark Crown Court last Wednesday after jurors accepted his denials that he had avoided tax on more than £189,000 found in a bank account he held in Monaco.