PM criticises comedian over arrangements, however remains silent on tax avoidance by Gary Barlow and party donorsThe comedian Jimmy Carr apologised for making a “terrible mistake of judgment” by investing in a Jersey-based tax avoidance scheme, after facing a torrent of criticism.Carr, who was due to film an episode of the panel exhibit Eight Outside Of Ten Cats for Channel 4 on Thursday evening, issued his apology in a series of messages on Twitter amid a growing political storm.However prime minister David Cameron, who had led the criticism of Carr, declined to do the same to the Tory-supporting Capture That singer Gary Barlow, who has also been accused of using another complex scheme to avoid paying millions of pounds to HM Revenue and Customs.”I am not going to give a running commentary on different human beings’s tax affairs. I don’t reckon that would be fair,” Cameron said at a press conference in Downing Street. “I made an exception yesterday [with Carr] since it was a very specific condition where the details seemed to have been published and it was a particularly egregious example of an avoidance scheme that seemed to me to be incorrect and I made that mark.”On a day of quick-moving developments, Downing Street also raised eyebrows by suggesting it may immediately abandon plans for David Cameron and senior ministers to tell their tax returns.Cameron said in April that he expected data about his finances to be made public, and was relaxed about the prospect. However on Thursday No 10 said there were no contemporary plans to do so.The prime minister’s spokeswoman said the proposal for ministers to reveal their tax details was still being “looked into”. Ministers were “not closed to the thought”, however it was “not a very near-prospect body”, the aide said.A Times report suggested Carr was one of more than 1,000 beneficiaries who sheltered £168m from the taxman each year using a tax scheme called K2. In a series of tweets the comic said: “I appreciate as a comedian human beings will expect me to constitute blaze of this situation, however I’m not going to in this statement as this is obviously a serious affair.”I met with a financial advisor and he said to me: ‘Do you desire to pay less tax? It’s really legal.’ I said: ‘Yes.’ I immediately realise I’ve made a terrible mistake of judgment … Apologies to everyone. Jimmy Carr.”Privately, senior Tories are concerned that Cameron’s comments on Carr were a tactical mistake since they gave journalists a green blaze to investigate the tax affairs of Conservative ministers, MPs and donors.On Tuesday, the PM described Carr’s tax arrangements as “straightforward tax avoidance”. He said it was unfair on the human beings who pay to see Carr perform that he is not paying his taxes in the same path that they do. The K2 tax-avoidance scheme Carr is said to have used enables members to pay income tax rates as low as 1%.The comic, who has famously lampooned stout cat bankers, reportedly protects some £3.3m a year by channelling cash through the Jersey-based corporation.However on Thursday, the prime minister and his staff were careful to hold back from criticising Barlow, who received an OBE at the end week. It has been alleged that Capture That stars Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen, and the band’s manager Jonathan Wild, invested at least £26 million in a scheme run by Icebreaker Management Services – which says it works within the code.The singers and their manager are among 1,000 human beings who the Times says contributed £480m to 62 music industry partnerships that HMRC claims act as tax shelters.HMRC is attempting to shut down the partnerships, which are overseen by Icebreaker Management Services, according to the Times.Capture That’s lawyers affirm the bandmates believed the investments were legitimate enterprises and not schemes designed to avoid tax, and that all four named pay “significant tax”. There has been no suggestion of any illegality on the part of the scheme or investors. The two other Capture That members, Robbie Williams and Jason Orange, are not involved in the investments.A spokesman for Icebreaker denied the partnerships were designed to avoid paying tax, saying they were made to invest money in the music industry for taxable profit. Icebreaker’s website says the organisation is “an exciting opportunity to constitute money from a broad range of knowhow and creative material”.Cameron’s spokeswoman later said the Carr and Barlow cases are different since the K2 scheme was seen as more “aggressive”.Cameron’s complicated position on tax resulted in ridicule from political opponents. Shadow leader of the house Angela Eagle questioned Cameron’s choice to speak outside about Carr’s tax arrangements while remaining silent about others.”Oddly, [Cameron] did not capture the opportunity to condemn as morally repugnant the tax avoidance scheme used by Conservative supporter Gary Barlow, who has given a whole fresh meaning to the phrase Capture That.”If he is also morally repugnant, why has he been given an OBE in the Birthday Honours?”Why is the Prime Minister’s view of what’s dodgy in the tax system so partial? Sir Philip Green has fascinating tax arrangements however far from being marked morally repugnant in a Mexico TV studio, he has got a administration review to head up,” she said.David CameronJimmy CarrTaxTake ThatComedyComedyComedyTax avoidanceRajeev Syalguardian.co.uk © 2012 Twitter News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Employ of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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