Members of Take That were today accused of using an “unacceptable” music industry investment scheme to shelter £26 million of their earnings.
As controversy widens over fairness in the tax system, Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Mark Owen and their manager Jonathan Wild were named today as investors in Icebreaker schemes which Revenue and Customs claims are being used to avoid payments.
Other participants include former England football manager Terry Venables.
Icebreaker denied its schemes, which let people invest in loss-making music projects to reduce their personal tax bills, were designed to avoid tax.
It said they are legal and help produce profitable “artistic material”.
Revenue and Customs officials claim the schemes lead to “unacceptable tax loss” and are taking Icebreaker to a tribunal in November in an attempt to close them.
That would force the Take That members, whose investments were revealed today by the Times, to pay back millions of pounds.
They and Wild declined to comment.
There is no suggestion that Jason Orange or Robbie Williams had joined the scheme. A spokesman for Venables said his tax affairs were perfectly in order.
The remaining 1,000 or so investors could also face large bills. There is no suggestion any of them incorrectly claimed tax relief or misled Revenue and Customs.
