Controversial accountant advised Carr
THE man who masterminded the tax avoidance scheme – accountant Roy Lyness – was also behind comedian Jimmy Carr’s controversial tax avoidance scheme back in 2012, it has emerged,
Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs Service launched an investigation into the scheme Carr used, which – while not illegal – was called ‘morally wrong’ by then Prime Minister David Cameron.
The Mrs Brown’s Boys actors were clients of Mr Lyness, who made headlines in 2012 for running the ‘K2’ scheme used to help Mr Carr avoid paying £3million on his earnings, the Guardian reported.
Mr Lyness is also the accountant to Brendan O’Carroll’s production company, BOC-PIX Ltd, and his name appears on the show’s credits.
Speaking to the Irish Times, one of the actors, Paddy Houlihan who plays Dermot, admitted he was concerned the arrangements seemed similar to those used by Mr Carr.
After the initial revelations, Mr Carr apologised and withdrew from the scheme. At the time, he was exposed as the biggest beneficiary of the K2 scheme, which protects money from tax in Jersey.
In a statement released at the time via Twitter, Mr Carr apologised and promised to conduct his financial affairs ‘much more responsibly’. He told his followers: ‘I appreciate as a comedian, people will expect me to make light of this situation, but I’m not going to in this statement, as this is obviously a serious matter. I met with a financial adviser and he said: “Do you want to pay less tax? It’s totally legal.” I said “Yes”.
‘I now realise I’ve made a terrible error of judgment. Although I’ve been advised the K2 Tax scheme is entirely legal, and has been fully disclosed to HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs), I’m no longer involved in it and will in future, conduct my financial affairs much more responsibly. Apologies to everyone.’
Documents from the Paradise Papers show that, in late 2013, Mr Lyness introduced members of Mr O’Carroll’s family to a tax advice firm called Aston Court, which operated a number of legal offshore trusts and companies designed to reduce users’ tax liabilities in the UK and Ireland.
In 2015, Mr Lyness told accountants at an event that the tax avoidance industry was ‘alive and kicking’, it was reported.
Economics journal, Economia reported that Mr Lyness, a mentor from Peak Performance, the tax planning assistants, told those in attendance: ‘The appetite for tax avoidance will always be there.
‘Demand from entrepreneurs – while tax rates are so big – will always exist. If there was a flat tax rate, there would not be any demand.’