"Why is it?" someone once asked, "that people can be perfectly reasonable when they work in the Department, and then become utter bastards as soon as they set up as tax consultants?" The only explanation I could think of was that they knew that decisions about tax were sometimes a matter of interpretation and nuance and got frustrated that they couldn't get their hands under the bonnet any more.  (Before any Pukka Sahibs  kick off to say, "it's not that way in direct tax", I'll make it clear I'm talking from the limited perspective of Cream Tea Duty). As far as interpreting the law goes, the job of an Officer in Cream Tea Duty was to say, "No you can't do that!" It was the job of the Higher Officer to then come along, stroke his chin and say, "Hmm, let's see if there's another way of looking at that." Of course, when it suited tax consultants, they'd often say, "Parliament makes the law. It's n...