Gary Barlow and tax avoidance

So, according to Cameron, Jimmy Carr's involvement in a tax avoidance scheme was "morally wrong" and "it is not fair to hardworking people who do the right thing and pay their taxes to see these sorts of scams taking place."

On the other hand, when asked whether Gary Barlow should hand back his OBE, Cameron said "I don't think that is necessary ....... Gary Barlow has done a huge amount for this country". He added that GB's charity work was a mitigating factor.

Is the amount of charity work a highly paid celebrity does a justification for him trying to dodge taxes? At the time Carr was being attacked by Cameron and the press, Carr's friends also said that he did a lot for charity (though not as well publicised as GB's).

Or perhaps the fact that Gary Barlow has been a staunch supporter of the Tory party somehow makes his behaviour less "morally wrong".

Of course, if all those paid their taxes who should, there would be less need for charity fund raising ...........

I seem to remember Jimmy Carr facing the public at the time whereas Gary Barlow hasn't shown his face, or am I wrong?

Absolutely Grannytwice, just what I was about to comment until I saw yours

Of course he should.

Knowingly avoiding paying his taxes morally cancels out his good deeds.

Excellent point GrannyTwice.
Maybe the difference between Carr and Barlow is that Carr is not a high profile Tory supporter?
Or that he has better parties?
Wasn't Barlow on a TV prig recently being interviewed by James Cordon. Seem to remember seeing a trailer. Did James ask him about tax does anyone know?

Self righteous hypocrisy is alive and well!
There must be loads of others doing the same thing, and as for the politicians, well, stones and glasshouses comes to mind!

Meanwhile, we 'ordinary folk' get penalised if we underpay by pennies.

This is tax avoidance - perfectly legal.

It's tax evasion which is naughty.

What does this Barlow 'do for the country'? I don't know who or what he is.

On second thoughts I don't care, either...

Surely Barlow et all were enrolled in the scheme by a tax advisor? Although he is obviously quite intelligent, he is no tax expert, so if he did this on the advice of a tax expert, why isn't the expert on trial? Also, irrespective of the moral aspect of it, the scheme was not (I think) illegal, so maybe Cameron should be looking at getting Osborne and the treasury to close these loopholes and schemes rather than lashing out at those who use them?

But Cammeron only lashes out if the tax avoider isn't a donator to the Tory party .

I do not believe anyone who avoids paying their tax does so without knowledge of the fact

Accountants have always looked for loopholes, that's what they do. It's up to the Government/Inland Revenue to close them!
Why don't they I wonder?

I do not believe anyone who avoids paying their tax does so without knowledge of the fact

Quite right. I think today's rich and famous have learnt from those who did put utter trust in their advisors only to find that their money had disappeared in one way or another; it is highly unlikely that anyone involved in how to 'handle their tax affairs' is completely ignorant of the facts.

As to his OBE - who, other than the recipients, places any value on them? It is meaningless rubbish now. If awards are to be bestowed on those who have done great works, fair enough but make them tailored to the achievements (and only given if the charity representation didn't involve the charity paying a fee).

I know people who have done charity work week in and week out for decades but no-one so much as pats them on the back and says thank you let alone set them apart from most others as a special case. I think they would also be given short shrift if they didn't pay their taxes as well.

Is it really fair that high earners (the hard workers perhaps?) have to pay half of every pound they earn in tax. And then have to pay (like all of us) 20% vat on anything they buy with the money they have left?

That's a lot of tax. Can you blame them for avoiding? Perhaps the tax laws should be fairer.

A lot of pop stars have no idea where there money goes or how much they have. Look at cases such as Blondie, whose management screwed them for most of their earnings when they were one of the biggest bands in the world; same thing happened to David Bowie.There are numerous other cases in the world of entertainment. I'm assuming that Gary Barlow still lives and pays taxes in this country, which is more than a lot of high earning celebrities do. I'm not saying that what he did was right but also don't think he should be demonised for it either. Perhaps the whole tax system, whereby high earners can find loopholes in the system needs to be reviewed. Barlow is a good guy. How many of us [if we found ourselves with money [sigh]] would just do what our accountants told us; I'm sure I would.

I would like to have his accountants working for me then maybe we would have the opportunity of paying less tax or finding the legal loopholes.Any charity work he does does not in my opinion affect his tax bill,it's a pity some MPs don't donate to Charities it may bring them in line with the real world.

According to BBC news last night, Barlow and two others in his group took this advice from their accountant on the understanding it was a way to avoid paying taxes.

What I don't get is when they are so rich already they then pay clever accountants to ensure they get even more rich. We now have over 100 billionaires in the UK. I don't see why they should not pay more than 50p in the pound. Many of them are Russians etc who are pushing up property prices by investing in property, particularly in London. This is not clever, it is not creating jobs so why not contribute to the UK exchequer. Goodness knows we need it with the national debt so huge and the NHS under threat of extensive further cuts.

Exactly what I was thinking Jess. How much money do these people need?

Tax avoidance/ evasion would be a matter of conscience in most of us. Is there not a phrase about innocence being no defence in law?
Oh how I wish I had a wonderful voice, seems that being a celeb. or a singer is a license to print money. Or to obtain large amounts from fans. The price of tickets to see concerts and for merchandised tat is ridiculous. If you earn it then tax should be paid! X

I would like to have his accountants working for me then maybe we would have the opportunity of paying less tax or finding the legal loopholes.

You may not like it glammanana - the accountant will use a tax advisor who could pass on costs of over £700 per hour to find the right solution!

You are right Tegan at least he pays taxes here, more than a lot of people like Phillip Green owner of Arcadia Group does. The bottom line is that he did nothing illegal, and if we need to criticise anyone, it is HMRC for not closing the loophole. Lets be honest here, if my accountant told me he had a legal way of reducing my tax bill, I would take it, and I only have one income stream as such, if you have income from all sources such as royalties, recording licences etc., just how on earth can you keep track of it all? By trusting your advisors thats how, and as we know some people have been robbed blind.

Mick Jagger [Sir that is] doesn't pay tax at all here. And I bet he doesn't do the charity work that Gary does. [I don't really know why I'm defending Gary Barlow; it kind of goes against my views on most things, but perhaps it's the way the press are having a field day, having used him for a nice sob story when he and his wife lost their baby].

I think D Camerons father came up with tax avoidance schemes, was it in The British Virgin Islands? I'm not quite sure which. He was a banker who made a lot of money by doing this, enabling him to pay for his sons posh education, there does not seem to be any mention of this, from his son.

Are we talking about 'just call me Dave, I'm just an ordinary bloke who rides a bike'?