Frankie Boyle hits back at tax dodge claims

Published on 01/07/2012 00:00

Comedian Frankie Boyle came out fighting over his tax arrangements yesterday after they were called into question.

A newspaper report claimed the entertainer “could have avoided paying nearly £900,000 tax through the voluntary liquidation of his firm last year”.

Noting that Boyle had lampooned fellow comic Jimmy Carr after Carr hit the headlines recently for using a complex scheme to reduce his tax payments, the newspaper said Boyle may also be the beneficiary of sharp – but entirely legal – accountancy practices on the millions he has earned through TV shows, tours, DVDs and book sales.

It said that by winding up Traskor Productions Limited, of which he was sole director and shareholder, he may have been able to pay a tax rate of just 10 per cent, rather than 50 per cent if he had taken money out as dividends or income.

This is because he could have been entitled to “entrepreneur” tax relief, saving him £880,762, the newspaper said.

Boyle responded with a statement on Twitter in which he said he was certain he paid more tax than most people in showbusiness and the Cabinet.

He wrote: “From 2007 I have paid £2.7 million in tax and this equates to just under 40 per cent of my income. There’s a lot of things people do to avoid paying tax and I don’t do any of them.

“I wound my company up for legal reasons separate from tax and my accountant applied for tax relief on this. This tax relief is approximately half of the tax saving the Mail quoted in its article today. I am certain I pay more tax than most people in show business and the cabinet.”