Among 1,600 people who attempted to shelter a combined £1.2 billion from the tax man in the United Kingdom are a whole host of celebrities, as well as judges, lawyers and top businessmen.
According to The Times, the Liberty scheme is one of Britain's "most aggressive" avenues of tax avoidance, and amongst its clients are a number of celebrities who will wake up this morning to find their names plastered all over the papers.
The Daily Mail are also reporting the story, and have details on the most famous of those involved, including celebrities such as Gary Barlow, four members of the Arctic Monkeys, Sir Michael Caine, singer Katie Melua and George Michael, who were all named by the source who leaked the information to The TImes. For their part, Melua's representative claimed that she sought to make use of the scheme in 2008, but has paid back the tax she tried to shelter, while spokespeople for George Michael, Michael Caine and the Arctic Monkeys gave no comment to the paper when they reached out for a response.
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs have been investigating the Liberty scheme, which is legal, for several years now, and will have a challenge to the scheme heard before the courts early next year. As a result, there could be large tax bills headed to the 1,600 people who have been named by the source, which The Times claims came forward because they were "concerned at Liberty's manipulation of the British tax code".
Via The Times and The Daily Mail.
