FINANCE: Trial tarnishes taxman's image

A quarter of finance directors have lost faith in the Inland Revenue in the wake of the corruption scandal surrounding the maverick tax investigator Michael Allcock. According to a survey published today, the finance chiefs said the affair was a "poor reflection of the Revenue's management control".

Allcock was jailed for five years at the Old Bailey last month for taking bribes. The former inspector was convicted of six charges of corruption - but cleared of five others. The case has shaken the Revenue to its 300- year-old foundations.

The survey of 200 finance directors, conducted by Accountancy Age magazine and Reed Accountancy Personnel, found a quarter also believed Allcock was "unlikely to be an isolated incident". One said: "It has shattered my respect for their integrity."