LONDON: Gary Lineker, ex English football player, analyst and presenter of program Match of the Day on BBC has received a tax bill for £1.3m after investing in a number of controversial schemes being targeted by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). Lineker has been given 90 days to pay the bill.
Lineker invested in five schemes run by Ingenious, a film and media investment company which HMRC has accused of being a tax avoidance scheme. Ingenious denies the allegations and its status will be decided in a series of tax tribunal cases later this year.
In the meantime, Lineker, along with several other high profile footballers, other sports stars and celebrities are understood to have been sent bills by HMRC for tax the Government says is owed over a number of years. The Ingenious scheme allowed investors to write off losses in Ingenious against other income and also allowed investors to take advantage of film tax relief, introduced to encourage the growth of the UK film industry. Lineker is one of five Match of the Day experts who invested in Ingenious.
If Ingenious wins its tribunal case, its investors will be repaid the tax demand by HMRC. Investors in Ingenious also include such football stars as Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and David Beckham as well as a host of celebrities and even MPs. Ingenious has insisted it is a bona fide trading organization that has supported such films Life of Pi, Avatar and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
Lineker’s spokesman did not dispute Lineker had invested in Ingenious but said the claims of a £1.3m tax bill were ‘speculative’. The spokesman said: “What is on public record is on public record, the remainder is ill-informed speculation and since this is a private matter it is no one else’s business.”
