Tax

BBC DJ Chris Moyles Apologises For Failed Tax Dodge

Former Radio 1 DJ and TV presenter Chris Moyles is the latest celebrity to come under the spotlight for trying to avoid tax by claiming to work as a used car salesman.

Moyles was exposed by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) as trying to avoid paying up to £1 million in tax under a scheme called Working Wheels.

A tax tribunal judge heard that Moyles and two others were among hundreds of celebrities, City bankers and other wealthy high-earners who signed up to the scheme run by NT Advisers in order to reduce their tax.

NT Advisers – the NT stands for ‘No Tax’ – have now lost four different tax avoidance cases before tax tribunals involving hundreds of millions of pounds of tax.

Moyles alleged he traded used cars in 2007-08 while working for the BBC, reportedly earning around £700,000 a year.

£1 million losses

His tax return claimed he ran up £1 million of losses while selling cars worth just £3,731.

The tribunal said: “Moyles used Working Wheels to make it look like he had incurred vast fees as if by magic. It’s clear he was involved for no other reason than to save tax.”

Moyles’ accountant Derek Smith told the tribunal that the alleged car business was a sham to avoid tax by building a loss to set off against other income.

Moyles has publicly apologised for his involvement in Working Wheels,

“I took part because I was assured it was legal,” he said. “I’m not a tax expert and acted on advice and now I have learned my lesson.”

Failed promises

Moyles paid NT Advisers £95,000 to join Working Wheels.

David Gauke, the exchequer secretary, said: “This case is another example of why taxpayers should not fall for the promises of promoters selling schemes that are all too often too good to be true. Not only will the taxpayer waste money on the fees for these failed schemes, they will still have to pay all the tax, interest and penalties that are due.

“This government has provided HMRC with the resources to tackle these avoidance schemes and HMRC will now pursue the other users of the scheme to make sure all the taxes that are due are paid.”

Tax rules were recently changed to make taxpayers declaring they are joining avoidance schemes to pay their tax upfront and reclaim the money with interest if the scheme is judged as legal.

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