to be a bit pissed off that Gary Barlow has been involved in tax avoidance?

[grovel]

I thought he was supposed to be a national treasure?

From The Mirror:

Gary Barlow and two other Take That stars face having to pay back tens of millions of pounds in tax after a court ruled they were part of a massive tax avoidance scheme.

The singer-songwriter, Howard Donald, Mark Owen and manager Jonathan Wild poured £66million into two partnerships styled as music-industry investment schemes.

But the ventures were artificial tax shelters for the super-rich which allowed the musicians to avoid tax on about £63million from world tours and CD sales.

The Take That members are likely to be ordered to repay more than £20million to HM Revenue & Customs.

Tax judge Colin Bishopp rejected arguments that more than 50 partnerships, set up by a company called Icebreaker Management, had been set up for commercial purposes.

He said: “Icebreaker is, and was known and understood by all concerned to be, a tax avoidance scheme.

“The aim was to secure [tax] relief for members, and to inflate the scale of the relief by unnecessary borrowing.”

[Jubelteen]

I've read that GB is very tight fisted with his money so not surprised that he tried to pay as little tax as possible. Its not illegal but does grate as us little people on PAYE pay full amount of tax on our meagre earnings.

[softlysoftly]

Tax avoidance is legal so he wouldn't be in court.

tax evasion I assume?

He still probably pays far more into the pot than most so can't get my knickers in a twist about it unless it is proved to be illegal tbh.

[Mrsjayy]

this has been going around for ages it was said when Jimmy Carr was caught out I guess a lot of high high earners do it, TBF i think most of us would if we earned as much as they do i assume gary Barlow pays a shit load of tax anyway

[ajandjjmum]

Someone spoke to us about this scheme. I think it reduces the tax you pay from 40% to 20% ish - so a significant saving. Still a significant tax payment though.

Hard to know what you'd do unless you had enough money to justify considering it - we all say 'no' now.......

[Mrsjayy]

well exactly if i was a multi millionaire songwriter who knows what I would want to do with my money,

[Mrsjayy]

athough a lot of celebs are caught out with scams and whatnot

[ClashCityRocker]

Softly softly, tax avoidance cases go before a tax tribunal and then up to high court to see if they 'work' and are actually legal.

With the anti-abuse legislation coming in, very few are likely to succeed, even if they follow the letter of the law in other respects.

[ComposHat]

What I find galling is the fucking prat was exorting us to give to children in need. Maybe they'd be less children in need in the UK if he paid his fucking taxes.

Sanctimonious prick.

[EffectiveCommunication]

Hang on which catagory is GB in?

The Peter Andre, Katie Price, Kerry Katona one or the Nigella Lawson, Lily Allen one?

It is apparently not in the spirt of MN to post negative about the second catagory.

[ComposHat]

We will soon find out.

[EffectiveCommunication]

I wonder how many children in need will now benefit from the £20m Mr Barlow will be returning to the tax man?

[StarGazeyPond]

What I find galling is the fucking prat was exorting us to give to children in need. Maybe they'd be less children in need in the UK if he paid his fucking taxes.

Really? You are being utterly utterly ridiculous with that statement.

[ConferencePear]

Living in this country gives you rights which citizens of other countries don't enjoy. Our society can only work if everyone pays their fair share.
I think people like Gary Barlow should be proud to pay his taxes in the country which has made him rich.

[EffectiveCommunication]

After giving it some through, I think GB comes under the KK,PA,KP catagory as he sends his children out to work. I remember seeing his DD preform as a munchkin in the west end.

[ComposHat]

Why is that ridiculous? If everyone simply decided to opt out of their obligations to pay taxes, as Gary Barlow has appeared to have done, , then how long til education, social services, youth clubs, sure starts and health visiting collapses?

The two things are not unrelated.

[EffectiveCommunication]

Well that is good then, so many children can benefit now, so it should take the sting out of it for him.

His DD was very cute a quite the performer BTW.

[rabbitrisen]

Colleen Nolan is on the protected list.

As to celebs in general, the scales have fallen from my eyes. We dont have a clue what they get up to behind closed doors.

[ShakesBootyFlabWobbles]

YANBU. I am disappointed with their choices and am glad HMRC has been successful in court.

I don't agree with the attitude that, well they pay a lot anyway who cares. They are in an incredibly privileged position and with that comes responsibility. The British masses on PAYE, even very well paid ones, have no choice but comply with tax legislation, I don't see why high net worth individuals should be any different. It is greed and nothing more.

[AuntieStella]

People get caught out from time to time on tax (and other) matters. I haven't actually seen anything about this one.

But in general, it's nothing to do with being a 'national treasure' as public image needs to be taken with a large pinch of salt anyhow.

Apparent likability is no indicator of morals or likelihood of being an offender (see threads passim on inadequacy of 'stranger danger' and friendly grooming; or 'but I liked him' for some but not all Yewtree offenders/suspects).

[Mrsjayy]

as an aside do you honestly think children will be no longer in need if gary barlow and the like paid more taxes, ,really

[EffectiveCommunication]

OK, so CN, NL and LA are on the protected list and GB, PA, KK and KP are not? got it!

[shitatusernames]

Wonder if the government will be going into his bank account to take back the unpaid taxes, which is something I'd heard they were proposing yesterday.

[Mintyy]

It is greed and nothing more.

Can't argue with that.

But you are all being mean about poor old Gary! He's such a good song writer and a luffly family man, and he had a weight problem and Robbie hated him, and then he's turned himself round and is just fabulous now and everyone should love him and be grateful for all that tax he does pay.

Going to have to report you vile nasty bitches to hq now. Sorry.

[CogitoErgoSometimes]

I'd assume that, unlike the rest of us relying on a slip of paper out of the cashpoint, Barlow's millions are managed by a team of financial experts. They'll be tasked with managing investments, taxes etc and the amount of conscious decision-making that GB contributes is probably minimal. Ignorance is no defence but I can see why 'talented but thick' celebrities often end up in this position.

[andsmile]

My DH is in tax. It is in no way as straight forward as deducting a percentage. Some legalities are very complex and are not easily understood by most. Knowing what I've learnt about certain areas if tax like share options, expenses, charity write offs, dual,contracts I'm not convinced everybody involved in these scheme actually understand what it is they are getting into, BUT they should, that is there responsibility.

Tax planning is legal, tax evasion is not.