HMRC sacks Hart-Davis over tax comments

Adam Hart-Davis will no longer front tax return adverts for HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) after he publicly criticised the department last week, it has emerged.

The tax body has confirmed that Mr Hart-Davis' comments in a BBC radio interview on January 31st - the original deadline for filing self assessment tax returns - mean that he will not feature in another of the "tax doesn't have to be taxing" promotional campaigns, Accountancy Age reports.

During the interview, Mr Hart-Davis claimed that the UK tax system is not simple enough and stated that taxpayers are "welcome to throw darts" at the HMRC billboards on which he features. He also called value added tax (VAT) "absurdly complicated".

"We will not be using Mr Hart-Davis in any self assessment advertising campaigns in the future," an HMRC spokesperson said.

Ironically, the historian and TV presenter speculated that his days as the face of tax returns may be numbered during the interview, claiming that HMRC bosses were planning to "hire some new, beautiful face, because people are sick of me".

The former Local Heroes presenter has fronted the campaign since 2002.