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Britains top tax boss forced into humiliating apology for bill blunder... just hours after refusing to say sorry By Christopher LeakeLast updated at 1:09 AM on 12th September 2010 ? Comments (158) ? Add to My Stories ? 8am: Im not sure I see the need to apologise ? 5.30pm: I am deeply sorry people are facing unexpected tax bills Britains top tax official was last night forced to issue a grovelling apology to more than a million people facing surprise bills – after previously saying he felt no need to say sorry. Dave Hartnett, Permanent Secretary for tax at Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), had left Chancellor George Osborne ‘incandescent with anger’ after saying, ‘I’m not sure I see a need to apologise’ over blunders that left 1.4?million people facing demands for an average of ￡1,428 extra tax. He also said taxpayers owing large amounts would be given less time to pay it back than those owing a small amount. Forced to sound humble: HMRC chief David Hartnett finally said sorry to taxpayers But in a humiliating U-turn nine hours after the BBC interview was made public, Mr Hartnett declared: ‘I am deeply sorry that people are facing an unexpected tax bill. Everyone in HMRC is working hard to make this as painless as possible. I apologise if my remarks came across as insensitive. ‘We do not underestimate the distress caused to taxpayers and once again I apologise.’ His Radio 4 interview broadcast yesterday morning followed a week of intense pressure over blunders that have left millions of people paying the wrong amount of tax. Mr Hartness attempted to defuse the row by saying the process for correcting tax bills was identical to arrangements in most other countries. At 5.30pm, however, Mr Hartnett, 59, issued a personal statement saying he regretted not saying sorry for the errors. He said: ‘I am working flat out with my colleagues to ensure everyone’s tax is correct and the new computer system will help us do this. It was this new system that revealed the