From BBC
Gary Barlow 'settling tax affairs ASAP'
By Chi Chi Izundu
Gary Barlow has said he is working with new accountants to settle his tax affairs "ASAP".
Writing on Twitter, he apologised to any fans who were offended by stories earlier in the year on the subject.
Take That members Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen and manager Jonathan Wild were among some 1,000 people involved.
They paid into schemes said to support the music industry - but a tribunal judge ruled they had actually been set up for tax avoidance purposes.
HM Revenue and Customs have said they will not "tolerate abuse of the system".
The Take That stars and their manager invested money through a company called Icebreaker.
Since March 2010, the four have been directors of Larkdale LLP - one of 50 partnerships that Icebreaker arranged to harness tax reliefs that the government had intended would support those in creative industries.
The tribunal found that shortly after money was put in to Larkdale LLP, it reported huge losses of more than £25m.
Those losses could then be offset against tax, reducing the men's tax bills.
The chair of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, Margaret Hodge, had suggested Barlow "might show a bit of contrition by giving back his OBE", after the appearance of tax avoidance stories appeared.
But David Cameron rejected the call.
In a series of tweets, the star also said he had been working in America for the last seven weeks.
He added that he took a break from the social networking site "after someone hacked my account and some very upsetting and disturbing text was written".
But his publicist confirmed to Newsbeat that he had returned to the social networking platform.
Gary added that he has been working on the musical Broadway production of Finding Neverland and tweeted he'd even met a "few faithful fans" on opening night in Boston.
Jessie J also confirmed to Newsbeat at the GQ Men of The Year awards that she has co-written a song for the production.
From The Guardian
Gary Barlow apologises over tax affairs
Pop star takes to Twitter to say sorry to fans and reveal that he is 'working to settle things with all parties involved'
Gary Barlow: 'I want to apologise to anyone who was offended by the tax stories earlier this year.' Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA
Pop star Gary Barlow has finally broken his silence to apologise after damaging tax avoidance allegations. The multimillionaire former Take That singer-songwriter was accused earlier this year of being involved in an "aggressive" tax avoidance scheme.
Barlow, a prolific tweeter, refused to comment after coming under a deluge of criticism. Some called for him to be stripped of his OBE when the story broke in May. Barlow, 43, was awarded his OBE by the Queen in November 2012.
But last night Barlow, a Tory supporter who lives in the constituency of the prime minister spoke for the first time, about his tax affairs with two posts on his Twitter account. He said: "I want to apologise to anyone who was offended by the tax stories earlier this year." A second tweet said: "With a new team of accountants, we are working to settle things with all parties involved ASAP."
Minutes later, he tweeted the news to his 3.5 million followers that he had been working on a new Take That album and a Broadway musical. He did not elaborate further on his tax arrangements.
He had earlier tweeted that he had just come back from "Seven productive weeks in the US" and had taken a break from Twitter after his account was hacked and "some very upsetting and disturbing text was written."
David Cameron rejected calls for Barlow to hand back his OBE after the star was ordered in May to pay millions of pounds in tax that had gone unpaid because of an avoidance scheme. The prime minister said it was not "necessary" to remove Barlow's honour because he had "raised money for charity". The defence came despite Cameron having previously condemned comedian Jimmy Carr for investing in a similar tax scheme. But Labour's Margaret Hodge, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said Barlow should hand back his OBE, and the Liberal Democrat chief secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, said: "People who don't pay the taxes that they should undermine the economy, damage our public services and place an extra, unfair burden on hardworking families and companies who play by the rules."
Barlow and two other members of Take That have refused to comment on reports that they are in line for tax bills totalling tens of millions of pounds after a court ruled a partnership in which they invested was a tax avoidance scheme.
The singer, with Howard Donald, Mark Owen and their manager Jonathan Wild, reportedly invested £66m into two partnerships styled as music industry investment schemes. Judge Colin Bishopp ruled that 51 partnerships set up by Icebreaker Management were to secure tax relief for members and HM Revenue and Customs is now expected to demand repayment.
It was alleged in 2012 that Barlow, Donald, Owen and Wild invested at least £26m in a scheme run by Icebreaker Management. At the time, Take That's lawyers insisted that the bandmates believed the investments were legitimate enterprises and that all four named paid "significant tax".
Barlow masterminded the Queen's diamond jubilee concert, which was staged at Buckingham Palace during a special bank holiday weekend in June 2012.
A Sky News video showed the PM telling two Take That fans: "He lives in my constituency in West Oxfordshire... He is such a nice man."
From Telegraph
Gary Barlow apologises for tax row and will 'settle things'
Take That members reportedly invested at least £26m in a scheme that potentially avoided tax
The star said on Tuesday night that he has hired a new accountant and appeared to indicate he will offer to pay more money to the Government.
"I want to apologise to anyone who was offended by the tax stories earlier this year," Mr Barlow tweeted.
"With a new team of accountants we are working to settle things with all parties involved ASAP."
Reports earlier this year suggested Mr Barlow and two other members of Take That were among nearly 1,000 people who contributed £480m to 62 partnerships in music industry investment schemes that could serve as tax shelters for high net worth people.
Lawyers for Mr Barlow and the other band mates involved - Howard Donald and Mark Owen - said they paid significant tax, and that they believed the schemes were not for tax avoidance purposes but were legitimate commercial enterprises.
HM Revenue and Customs is reportedly trying to close the scheme at a tax tribunal this November.
In June, a spokesman for David Cameron said the Prime Minister disproved of tax avoidance and said “it was important that people pay the right level of tax”.
However, she defended the awarding of Mr Barlow’s OBE.
Take That members Mr Barlow, Mark Owen and Howard Donald, along with their manager Jonathan Wild, invested money in a music industry investment scheme used by nearly 1,000 wealthy individuals.
Revenue and Customs officials confirmed it believes the partnerships are designed to allow members to avoid tax and said it will be attempting to close the structure at a tribunal later this year.
According to an investigation by the Times newspaper, the singers invested in a partnership run by Icebreaker Management Services.
If HMRC are found to be correct, the company could have to pay back millions of pounds.
A spokesman for HMRC told the Times: “We have taken firm action to protect the Exchequer from unacceptable tax loss. We do not accept that the Icebreak tax avoidance schemes have the tax effects their promoters claim.”
A spokesman for Icebreaker denied the partnerships were designed to avoid paying tax, saying they were created to invest money in the music industry for taxable profit.
“Abuse of the tax system for personal gain is, of course, never acceptable”, he said.
Lawyers for Mr Barlow, Mr Owen, Mr Donald and Mr Wild confirmed they were investors in two partnerships but told the newspaper they paid significant tax.
They did not believe they were tax avoidance schemes, lawyers said, and investments were made after taking financial advice.
There is no suggestion that the scheme is illegal.
Matt Hodson, working on behalf of Icebreaker, told an undercover Times reporter: “They invested money into the Icebreaker partnership and therefore not paid the Revenue the tax.
“They don’t like paying the taxman.”
There is no suggestion that fellow Take That member Jason Orange or Robbie Williams invested.
The partnerships work by allowing investors to make a contribution of their own money, which can be boosted by an offshore bank loan.
The money is then invested buying music rights in artists, with profits paid back into the partnership.
The investor can then gain tax relief on the full amount invested, regardless of their personal contribution. The scheme also allows investors to claim tax relief on first year losses, which can be offset against other income.
This means an investment of £40,000, boosted by a loan of £160,000 could generate £77,520 in tax relief. An investment of £200,000 would result in an earning of £1m.
The newspaper said Mr Barlow, Mr Donald, Mr Owen and Mr Wild joined two Icebreaker partnerships, one in March 2010 and another in September.
In March 2010, they put £5.2m of their own money in a partnership called Larkdale LLP and borrowed a further £20.8m.
According to the newspaper, records show Larkdale registered a loss of £25.2m in April 2010, which was “available for discretionary division among members”.
The scheme was uncovered after a representative of specialist tax mitigation company Mulbury Hamilton marketed it.
The representative said they were completely separate companies so HMRC could not link them, “otherwise…it fails for them”.
A spokesman for HMRC said: “HMRC has already successfully challenged an avoidance scheme run by Icebreaker 1 LLP winning on the main arguments in the tribunals.
"This type of scheme will fail where there is circular borrowing which serves no economic purpose or which cannot in fact be used in a trade.
"We are now preparing to litigate Icebreaker 2 but for legal reasons cannot say more at this time. We examine the implementation of avoidance schemes in detail and will not let any aspect of these cases go unchallenged.”
The Icebreaker website reads: "Since 2004, Icebreaker has been bringing together investors, entrepreneurs and creative talent.
"There is a particular emphasis on commercial projects in the creative and technology industries. Income from these projects is shared between the relevant Icebreaker LLP and the individuals and companies involved.
"Members are expected to bring their own business and personal experience to their LLP and to contribute to its trade by playing an active part in the LLP's commercial activities.
"Accordingly, membership of an Icebreaker LLP may not be suitable for an individual who is, for example, simply seeking a possible means to obtain tax relief."
A spokesman for HMRC said they would be challenging the scheme in a tribunal in November.
He added: "HMRC is extremely effective at shutting down tax avoidance schemes fast and effectively. The avoidance “industry” has been seriously undermined by HMRC’s focus on tackling avoidance – preventing billions of pounds of tax being diverted from the Exchequer.
“In our 2010 spending review the Government made £917m available to us to tackle avoidance, evasion and fraud. This is being used to ensure a level playing field for all taxpayers.”
From mirror.uk
Gary Barlow apologises over tax avoidance - but Take That singer's sudden apology is blasted online
Gary, together with Take That bandmates Howard Donald and Mark Owen, were accused this year of hiding millions of pounds from authorities
Under fire Gary Barlow yesterday said sorry over the tax avoidance furore that led to demands for him to be stripped of his OBE.
But the pop star’s apology brought a deluge of criticism from people who were suspicious about the timing.
Gary, together with Take That bandmates Howard Donald and Mark Owen, were accused this year of hiding millions of pounds from authorities.
A judge ruled that a scheme they had invested in amounted to tax avoidance and there were calls for them to pay any money owed.
Gary, 43, has always denied any wrongdoing but he tweeted yesterday: “I want to apologise to anyone who was offended by the tax stories earlier this year.”
An hour later, he added: “With a new team of accountants we are working to settle things with all parties involved ASAP.”
He also revealed that Take That have been working on a new studio album – their first in four years.
The singer said: “It’s nice to be back in the band.”
His sudden apology over the tax issue was slated online.
@Quoink tweeted back: “Lol at Gary Barlow. Sorry about the tax avoidance. New album being recorded. Please give generously.”
Craig O’Connor, @sawdoc1878, said: “Shunning the limelight whilst the Tax Sham scenario dies down?
“Slide back in after your advisors have given the green light?”
And Nick Buckel, @nickychops, tweeted: “Nice of Gary Barlow to apologise for any offence caused by the tax stories. Not the actual avoidance of tax, just the reporting of it.”
Gary, a Tory supporter who lives in David Cameron’s constituency of Witney, Oxon, also used his Twitter account yesterday to reveal that he had just come back from “seven productive weeks in the US” and has been working on a Broadway musical.
It had been alleged that in 2012 Gary, Mark, and Howard, together with their manager Jonathan Wild, had invested at least £26million in a scheme run by a company called Icebreaker Management.
Lawyers for the men said they had paid “significant tax” and had no idea that these were not legitimate commercial enterprises.
HM Revenue & Customs is trying to claw back millions in unpaid tax and is attempting to close loopholes that enable high earners to avoid paying what they owe.
HMRC said: “We do not accept the Icebreaker tax avoidance schemes have the tax effects their promoters claim.”
The controversy led to Labour’s Margaret Hodge saying that Gary “might want to show a bit of contrition by giving back his OBE”.
Gary masterminded the Queen’s diamond jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace in 2012.
Two weeks later he was appointed OBE for services to the entertainment industry.
From ok.co.uk
'Why let one person ruin all the fun?' - Gary Barlow returns to Twitter following vile troll abuse
The Take that singer was forced off the social media site after receiving abuse about his stillborn daughter
GARY Barlow has returned to Twitter after he received disgusting abuse about his stillborn baby.
The Take That singer had his account hacked by a user who wrote an offensive message about his daughter Poppy, after it emerged that Gary was part of a tax avoidance scheme.
Gary, who hasn't posted anything on the site since May, wrote: "Hey everyone ! I'm back from 7 productive weeks in the US and I'm back on twitter !
"I've had a break from twitter after someone hacked my account and some very upsetting and disturbing text was written.
"Over the Summer I've remembered that I have so many supporters, friends and fans on here so why let 1 person ruin all the fun."
He also addressed his the scheme that he was involved in alongside bandmates Mark Owen and Howard Donald who jointly invested £66million.
"I want to apologise to anyone who was offended by the tax stories earlier this year," he wrote.
"With a new team of accountants we are working to settle things with all parties involved ASAP."
In his return speech, he also offered good news to fans of his band.
"We have been working since the new year on a new Take That studio album. We are extremely excited about it ! It has been 4 long years since the last one. It's so nice to be back in the band!"
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