Pop star
takes to Twitter to say sorry to fans and reveal that he is 'working to settle
things with all parties involved'
theguardian.com - Press Association, , Tuesday 2 September 2014
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 following damaging
tax-dodging 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 tonight
Barlow, a Tory supporter who lives in the constituency of the prime minister,
David Cameron, 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 "7 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 thanks to
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."
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