Peter Lawwell Involved In Tax Dodge

[ian1964 10,721]

Celtic chief Peter Lawwell among club figures linked to £434million tax dodge

A RECORD investigation reveals the Parkhead chief executive, along with several former players and managers, are linked to a massive tax dodge.

By

John Ferguson

• 06:00, 12 OCT 2016
• Updated10:26, 12 OCT 2016

CELTIC supremo Peter Lawwell and other club figures have been linked to a £434million tax dodge.

A Record investigation reveals the Hoops chief executive, along with several former players and managers, invested in a number of controversial film partnerships set up by London firm Ingenious.

Caretaker England manager Gareth Southgate was recently hit with a huge tax demand because of his involvement in the finance vehicles.

HM Revenue and Customs have branded the Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) schemes as sophisticated tax avoidance.

And they have issued multi-million-pound bills to hundreds of Ingenious clients all over the UK after winning a tax tribunal victory.

The LLPs allowed members to offset losses made on film 
investments against their tax 
liabilities for other income.

Companies House records show Lawwell and former manager Martin O’Neill became members of 
Ingenious’s Inside Track 3 LLP in 2004.

Ex-manager and player Neil Lennon was a member of Ingenious Film 
Partners 2 LLP between 2006 and 2011.

Former Celtic and Scotland star Gary Caldwell is an investor in Inside Track 3 LLP and Inside Track 2 LLP, while he resigned from Ingenious Film Partners LLP in 2010.

The Parkhead club’s former finance director Eric Riley is also a member of Inside Track 3 LLP.

Momo Sylla meanwhile joined up with Inside Track1 LLP and Ingenious Film Partners LLP.

Ingenious have admitted all of the above partnerships were covered by the tax tribunal ruling.

While declining to comment on specific cases, an HMRC spokesman said: “HMRC continue to challenge schemes that try to exploit tax reliefs.

“Avoidance does not pay. Most schemes simply don’t work and users end up having to pay all the tax due plus interest.

“Many will be worse off than if they had just paid the right tax up front.”

Ex-Celtic star Craig Bellamy 
also joined schemes linked to Ingenious in his time at Parkhead – Cherwell Films LLP and Orwell Films LLP.

All of the LLPs have their registered headquarters at 15 Golden Square in London – the same address as the main Ingenious group.

A number of other former Celtic players – Bobby Petta, Chris Sutton, John Hartson, Stan Varga, Alan Thompson and Johan Mjallby – were also involved in other LLP schemes.

Petta was a member of The Film Development Partnership 11 LLP, while Sutton joined WRP Dryvac LLP.

Varga was involved with The Gala Film Partners LLP, Innvotec 3LLP, Innvotec 6 LLP, and The Invicta Film Partnership No 23 LLP.

Thompson was a director of three schemes and Mjallby two.

Hartson was a director of 
The Mamjam Technology Platform Partnership LLP, and The Casedirector 
Technology Partnership LLP, along with Lennon.

In 2012, Hartson and Lennon went to court to try to get money back after the schemes failed and the taxman cracked down. Lennon had put £200,000 into the partnerships in 2003 after being told it would save him almost £500,000 in income tax.

But he only got £80,000 of his cash back after the Inland Revenue said the schemes were against tax rules, and the investments failed.

Mr Justice Hamblen rejected the case for compensation, and ruled there were “obvious risks” in “aggressive tax schemes” that would allow members to almost immediately double their money.

Former Hibs, Dundee United and Celtic star Darren Jackson was made bankrupt with debts of £270,000 last year. The majority of the cash was owed to the taxman and related to 
investments in a film production scheme.

Last week, it emerged Southgate 
was caught up in the Ingenious 
dispute. The 46-year-old former England player invested in Inside Track 3 LLP and Inside Track 1 LLP.

From 2002 to 2010, Ingenious attracted high earners from many walks of life.

As well as the Celtic players and management, former England stars David Beckham and Gary Lineker and telly favourites Ant and Dec were involved.

Hundreds of millions was invested and Ingenious genuinely helped to finance major films including Avatar and Life of Pi.

But the company claimed £1.6billion in losses and individuals who were partners in LLPs were then lawfully able to write off losses against other income.

However, following the tax tribunal ruling, investors have been hit with bills totalling £434million in unpaid tax – plus interest and legal fees. The total tax relief claimed by Ingenious investors was £620million.

Aberdeen chairman Stewart Milne, former St Mirren caretaker boss Gary Teale and ex-Scotland captain Gary 
McAllister are being probed over
investments in schemes including Inside Track Productions, Ingenious Film Partners 2 and Ingenious Games LLP.

According to Companies House, former Aberdeen stars Stephen Glass and Eoin Jess and ex-Rangers striker Billy Dodds also invested.

Members of Inside Track 1 LLP include film director Guy Ritchie, former BBC news reporter Kate Adie, singer Craig David and footballers Emile Heskey and Martin Keown.

Legislation put in place by former Chancellor George Osborne has allowed HMRC to re-examine the legality of more than 1000 schemes used by the rich and famous.

This has led to hundreds of 
accelerated payment notices being served on former and current 
footballers. HMRC can demand the huge bills be paid up front before any legal challenge.

Many players who were making large amounts during a short earning peak now face bills from the taxman that threaten to ruin them.

Rangers legend Gordon Durie went bust owing more than £200,000 this year.

The former Scotland international declared himself bankrupt with assets worth just half his liabilities.

Durie, 50, was a director of Eclipse Film Partners No.9.

A spokeswoman for Celtic last night said the club wouldn’t be commenting on club figures linked to film schemes.

A spokesman for Ingenious said: “The film partnerships run by Ingenious have already generated over £1billion in taxable income for the UK Treasury, with a further £1billion to come over the lifetime of the films they funded.

“They helped bring movies like Avatar, Life of Pi, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The Girl with a Pearl Earring, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz to the screen and are clearly run for profit.

“HMRC have consistently failed to distinguish between commercial 
businesses and tax avoidance schemes and have … deemed all film 
arrangements to be tax schemes.”

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/celtic-chief-peter-lawwell-among-9027258

[StuGers 477]

Can someone explain how these are any different than EBTs?

[ian1964 10,721]

12 minutes ago, StuGers said:

Can someone explain how these are any different than EBTs?

No idea mate? seen it retweeted and got me thinking how quiet this has all went!!

 

 

[MacK1950 2,376]

Wonder if PQ will comment/investigate this????????

[ian1964 10,721]

Ingenious ordered to pay almost £50m in back taxes

By David Campbell 28 Aug, 2018

Ingenious is facing a HMRC order to pay almost £50 million which the tax authority insists is liable on former film investments made by the company.

The order is the latest instalment in the long-running dispute between the firm, which invested in what it says were legitimate tax breaks offered by film productions on behalf of book of celebrity clients, and the tax man, who alleges it offered tax avoidance schemes.

Both HMRC and Ingenious claimed victory in a four year court battle in 2016, following a decision which ruled in favour of parts of the tax relief claimed by the fund while disputing others. The legal process remains ongoing.  

The total sum is made up of two different demands, which with accrued interest add up to £47 million, the Times reported.

Ingenious claimed the order was based on a ‘deeply flawed’ decision by the courts and said it remained confident that it would be exonerated.  ‘The case will be reheard at the upper tribunal in March where Ingenious is confident of victory,’ the company said.

Around 500 former clients of Ingenious – including Andrew Lloyd Webber and a series of high-flying bankers – this month launced a lawsuit against the company's film investment scheme.

Chair of the company Patrick McKenna told Bloomberg the claims were ‘without merit and will be vigorously defended’.

The suit claimed  that Ingenious’ promotional materials ‘made representations of fact which were false and which they had no reasonable grounds for believing were true’.

Stewarts Law head of tax litigation David Pickstone, who is representing the claimants, said they expect to recover around £200 million on behalf of around one in four original investors in the fund.

HMRC has aggressively challenged the use of film funding tax breaks in recent years, successfully arguing in a number of cases that they have been used as vehicles for tax avoidance.

https://citywire.co.uk/wealth-manager/news/ingenious-ordered-to-pay-almost-50m-in-back-taxes/a1149724

[compo 7,030]

I don't see anything wrong with dodging tax as long as it's legal .

[Bill 13,717]

Tax should be avoided by all legal means. Giving money to politicians is guaranteed to be an exercise in wastefulness. 

[ian1964 10,721]

 

[ian1964 10,721]

Celtic Player Football Debts March 1994: Charlie Nicholas owed £100,000 by Celtic for over 3 Years then given Dempsey Land/House Tax Avoidance/Side Deal/Football Debt deal.

POSTED BY FOOTBALLTAXHAVENS ⋅ APRIL 25, 2020 ⋅ LEAVE A COMMENT

FILED UNDER  CELTIC, CHARLIE NICHOLAS, LEE MARTIN, MANCHESTER UNITED, SHEFFIELD UNITED, WILLIE FALCONER

 

https://footballtaxhavens.wordpress.com/2020/04/25/celtic-player-football-debts-march-1994-charlie-nicholas-owed-100000-by-celtic-for-over-3-years-then-given-dempsey-land-house-tax-avoidance-side-deal-football-debt-deal/

[craig 5,199]

On 15/10/2018 at 09:22, StuGers said:

Can someone explain how these are any different than EBTs?

The marked difference between these and EBT's in theirs and our situation is that theirs weren't administered by the club.  Which means Celtic can, legitimately, claim that what their staff do with their own money is their own business and it is nothing to do with the Club.