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21/06/2012
Jimmy Carr Apologises For Use Of K2 Tax Avoidance Scheme
Comedian Jimmy Carr has said he "made a terrible error of judgement" over using a tax avoidance scheme.
After Prime Minister David Cameron called Mr Carr's use of the K2 scheme "morally wrong", Carr used his Twitter account to say he was no longer involved in the K2 tax shelter.
The tax scheme is a way of lowering the amount of tax paid. It is legal and Mr Carr made clear in his statement it was fully disclosed to HMRC.
In a series of messages on Twitter Mr Carr said: "I appreciate as a comedian, people will expect me to 'make light' of this situation, but I'm not going to in this statement.
"As this is obviously a serious matter. I met with a financial advisor and he said to me 'Do you want to pay less tax? It's totally legal'. I said 'Yes'."
"I now realise I've made a terrible error of judgement.
"Although I've been advised the K2 Tax scheme is entirely legal, and has been fully disclosed to HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs).
"I'm no longer involved in it and will in future conduct my financial affairs much more responsibly. Apologies to everyone. Jimmy Carr."
It is thought that more than 1,000 people are using the Jersey-based K2 scheme, which is said to be sheltering £168m a year from the Treasury.
Under the K2 scheme, an individual resigns from their company and any salary they subsequently receive is paid to an offshore trust.
The prime minister was asked about Mr Carr's arrangement on Wednesday during a visit to Mexico for the G20 summit.
He said: "People work hard, they pay their taxes, they save up to go to one of his shows. They buy the tickets. He is taking the money from those tickets and he, as far as I can see, is putting all of that into some very dodgy tax avoiding schemes.
"That is wrong. There is nothing wrong with people planning their tax affairs to invest in their pension and plan for their retirement - that sort of tax management is fine.
"But some of these schemes we have seen are quite frankly morally wrong. The government is acting by looking at a general anti-avoidance law but we do need to make progress on this.
"It is not fair on hard working people who do the right thing and pay their taxes to see these sorts of scams taking place."
Labour leader Ed Miliband opted not to join in with the chorus of criticism of the Eight Out of 10 Cats star's tax affairs.
He said: "I'm not in favour of tax avoidance obviously, but I don't think it is for politicians to lecture people about morality.
"I think what the politicians need to do is - if the wrong thing is happening - change the law to prevent that tax avoidance happening."
(H)
After Prime Minister David Cameron called Mr Carr's use of the K2 scheme "morally wrong", Carr used his Twitter account to say he was no longer involved in the K2 tax shelter.
The tax scheme is a way of lowering the amount of tax paid. It is legal and Mr Carr made clear in his statement it was fully disclosed to HMRC.
In a series of messages on Twitter Mr Carr said: "I appreciate as a comedian, people will expect me to 'make light' of this situation, but I'm not going to in this statement.
"As this is obviously a serious matter. I met with a financial advisor and he said to me 'Do you want to pay less tax? It's totally legal'. I said 'Yes'."
"I now realise I've made a terrible error of judgement.
"Although I've been advised the K2 Tax scheme is entirely legal, and has been fully disclosed to HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs).
"I'm no longer involved in it and will in future conduct my financial affairs much more responsibly. Apologies to everyone. Jimmy Carr."
It is thought that more than 1,000 people are using the Jersey-based K2 scheme, which is said to be sheltering £168m a year from the Treasury.
Under the K2 scheme, an individual resigns from their company and any salary they subsequently receive is paid to an offshore trust.
The prime minister was asked about Mr Carr's arrangement on Wednesday during a visit to Mexico for the G20 summit.
He said: "People work hard, they pay their taxes, they save up to go to one of his shows. They buy the tickets. He is taking the money from those tickets and he, as far as I can see, is putting all of that into some very dodgy tax avoiding schemes.
"That is wrong. There is nothing wrong with people planning their tax affairs to invest in their pension and plan for their retirement - that sort of tax management is fine.
"But some of these schemes we have seen are quite frankly morally wrong. The government is acting by looking at a general anti-avoidance law but we do need to make progress on this.
"It is not fair on hard working people who do the right thing and pay their taxes to see these sorts of scams taking place."
Labour leader Ed Miliband opted not to join in with the chorus of criticism of the Eight Out of 10 Cats star's tax affairs.
He said: "I'm not in favour of tax avoidance obviously, but I don't think it is for politicians to lecture people about morality.
"I think what the politicians need to do is - if the wrong thing is happening - change the law to prevent that tax avoidance happening."
(H)
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