Cheapside

What a clever prof!

Pure altruism prompted tax firm KPMG to spend tens of thousands of pounds sponsoring the professor of taxation law at Oxford University. That same professor, Judith Freedman, is now arguing that tax avoidance may not always be in the corporate taxpayer's best interests. After all, tax pays for hospitals and schools and going offshore might be contrary to good corporate citizenship. But KPMG bosses can breathe easy. The prof is not calling for anything as effective as rules about tax avoidance. Just guidelines. As you were then.

Inside job

Talking of tax avoidance, a government IT specialist is moving thousands of staff to offshore locations, saving loads of money. EDS runs computers for Inland Revenue. Cheapside feels faint.

Shared strain

But not quite as trembly as Sir Nicholas Montagu. The Inland Revenue chairman who, bless him, looking like a washed-up Tetley's tea folk character, was given a right rollicking by the Treasury sub-committee last Wednesday. Cheapside almost felt sorry for him, then remembered that he sanctioned a £220m sale of Revenue property to a firm based in a tax haven and was responsible for non-payment of tax credits to the millions entitled to them. Thank goodness for his deputy, valiant David Hartnett. There he was scribbling answers to awkward questions on Post-It notes and thrusting them in front of his boss. When that didn't work, St David took the mike to save his boss's bacon. Could such loyalty result in Harnett taking over the Revenue when - not if - Monty shuffles off to become a... tea-bag quality control manager?

Point taken

Jarvis, Britain's best loved rail contractor, has lost its director of communications after just three months in the job. Nothing to do with further Health and Safety Executive reports into the Potters Bar rail crash, we trust.

Party line

Next weekend the Trade Justice Movement is organising a lobby of MPs to campaign for fair trade for developing countries and it's comforting to see the Labour Party embracing this issue with all its heart - when it can find it. Leaked guidance from the Labour spinners urges MPs to greet campaigners warmly, smile and disagree with one of the movement's main aims - to stop the United States and European Union forcing developing countries to open their economies further to Western businesses. Truly the party of the people.

Magic charm

Remember Amulet Group, the charming personal injury insurer that fired most of its 2,400 staff by text message earlier this month? Currently sifting through Amulet's financial wreckage is PricewaterhouseCoopers. The very same PWC who sponsored the Sunday Times Profit Track report listing the 100 fastest profit-making unquoted firms. There, nestling in fifth place in the PWC celebration of all that is good in British business, was Amulet Group. Talk about giving to receive.

Reds alert

Manchester United must be sick of David Beckham. Now it could be at the centre of a match-fixing investigation. A multi-million pound chunk of Goldenballs' £25m transfer fee to Real Madrid depends on the Spaniards reaching the quarter finals of the champions' league in each of the next four years. What happens if United meet Real in the group stage or the last 16 of the competition? After admitting an 'apparent conflict' of interest, UEFA says it would not be in United's interests to throw a game to recoup another tranche of the Becks' payment, which totals up to €10m. Besides, UEFA will be watching to make sure the Reds' accountants don't give the pre-match team talk. Which, knowing Man U, is pretty hard to guarantee.