Lineker caught out in offshore tax row
MONDAY: He tweets that he won’t be named in Paradise Papers leak YESTERDAY: The files reveal he used offshore firm to avoid tax on a property in Barbados
GARY Lineker became the latest celebrity to become embroiled in the Paradise Papers row yesterday amid claims he avoided paying tax on his Barbados home.
The Match of the Day host was said to have bought a property using a company set up in the British Virgin Islands – allowing him to sell it tax-free.
The former England football captain was one of a number of celebrities who appeared to have used the scheme, it was reported.
His representatives said there had been ‘no tax irregularity’.
Lineker, 56, has previously faced criticism over his tax arrangements and he was quizzed on Twitter about whether his name would appear in the so-called Paradise Papers data leak.
Replying to a message earlier this week, when the offshore tax row first emerged, he tweeted: ‘I rather doubt I’ll be mentioned as I happily pay my taxes. Thanks for your concern.’ That message was shared repeatedly on social media yesterday after it was revealed he did feature in the massive data leak, and several Twitter users accused him of hypocrisy.
Twice-divorced Lineker, said to be one of the BBC’s highest paid presenters on £1.8million a year, posted last night: ‘As far as I knew it was a bog standard arrangement encouraged at the time by Barbados to encourage folk to buy/build there, thus generating employment and tax revenue.
‘Property paid for with earnings already taxed in UK. All transparent & above board.’
Lineker is a regular visitor to Barbados and is known to have bought a £2.2million five-bedroom ocean-view mansion on the Caribbean island in 2005, on the exclusive Royal Westmoreland Golf and Country Club development.
According to The Guardian, documents from the Paradise Papers revealed he co- owned a Barbados property through a company called Goalhanger Inc, registered in the British Virgin Islands. However, it was not clear if the property was the Westmoreland mansion. It is said to have been sold to new owners in 2010.
Under Barbados law, stamp duty of 1 per cent and transfer taxes of 2.5 per cent are payable on any property – amounting to hundreds of thousands of pounds for a multi-million pound property.
But the sale can be made taxfree if the property was sold by a company in the BVI. Lineker’s representatives insist there was ‘no tax irregularity’.
They said the sale had been declared to HMRC and that all taxes due in the UK and abroad had been paid in full. The TV host’s agent did not respond to requests for comment.
Twitter users accused the former Barcelona and Tottenham star of hypocrisy. One wrote: ‘Legally avoiding tax is still avoidance.
‘You should help the poorest in society by paying more tax, not using legal loopholes only available to the rich to make yourself even richer. Hypocrite.’
Lineker drew attention to claims that the sale had been declared to HMRC and all taxes due in the UK and abroad had been paid in full. But it failed to silence his critics. One tweeted: ‘You really should consider a career in politics. “All taxes due” – translation: I abided by the letter of the law rather than the spirit and didn’t pay the same tax as I would have if I’d simply bought it in my own name.’
Cricketer Mike Gatting was also said to have bought a Barbados property using a BVI company, co-owned with his wife Elaine.
He told The Guardian he was trying to sell it, adding: ‘If a taxable profit is made, the tax due will be paid.’ The scheme is legal in Barbados and there is no suggestion that Lineker or Gatting acted unlawfully. But the issue of tax breaks for foreigners has prompted concern in the country, which is in the midst of an economic crisis, and there have been calls for a tougher approach.
‘Bog standard arrangement’