1:25 pm, February 24, 2014
HE may be one of the UK’s best-known radio DJs, but Chris Moyles once wanted the taxman to think he was a used car dealer.
The popular presenter claimed that he was a second-hand trader as a ploy to avoid up to £400,000 in tax, a tribunal judged.
According to Sky News, Moyles, along with two other men, joined a scheme called Working Wheels. It allowed the trio to say they had been liable for huge charges while working within the motor trade – fees they were then able to offset against their HM Revenue & Customs tax demands.
The scheme’s members numbered ‘450 fund managers, celebrities and other high earners between 2006 and 2008’.
According to a judgment by the Tax Chamber of the First-Tier Tribunal, Moyles’s self-assessment tax return for 2007-08 said he ‘had engaged in self-employment as a used car trader’ when he was actually the presenter of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show.
The 40-year-old, who left the station in 2012, gave no evidence, just a witness statement that Judge Colin Bishopp called ‘very brief and rather uninformative’. And the judgment said it was ‘quite clear’ from Moyles’s statement that he went into the scheme ‘to achieve a tax saving, and that he took no interest in the trade.’
Afterwards, Exchequer Secretary David Gauke said that it should act as a warning to everyone.
‘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,’ he said.
On Twitter, Moyles denied knowingly doing anything illegal – but admitted he had been naive.
He wrote: ‘I want to comment about a recent tribunal tax ruling.
‘Upon advice, I signed up to a scheme which I was assured was legal. Despite this, my knowledge of the dealings of the scheme was naive.
‘I’m not a tax expert and acted on advice I was given. This was a mistake and I accept the ruling without reservation.
‘I take full responsibility and have learnt a valuable lesson.’
He now faces having to make a significant payment to HMRC because of his involvement in the scheme.
Picture source: Wikipedia
