Danny Murphy could be in trouble.

[grandad]

Match of the Day pundit, Danny Murphy, is reportedly facing a £2.5 million tax bill, after a film investment scheme he put money into was the subject of an HMRC clampdown on suspected tax avoidance.

[grandad]

The Sun reported that the former Liverpool, Fulham and Blackburn Rovers midfielder was one of a large number of celebrities who had invested in Ingenious Media, a company that helped finance films. Investors became directors of partnerships in order to invest, which meant that any losses could be offset against their income - reducing their tax bills.

A number of high-profile people invested: David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Jeremy Paxman, Robbie Williams, James Dyson and MP Andrew Mitchell have all been named among the 1,300 investors over a decade.

[Berserker]

Oh dear, oh dear

[The Enclosurite]

I think he needs to find himself a coaching or assistant manager job somewhere to help pay off the bill.  Anyone know of somewhere he could do that?  :005: 049:gif

[Max Headroom]

The government encouraged investments in film companies with tax breaks. Must be a slow news day.

[epsomraver]

The government encouraged investments in film companies with tax breaks. Must be a slow news day.

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[Nero]

Shock horror well off people try to avoid paying tax, next weeks breaking news self employed people do jobs cash in hand and don't put it though their books

[MasterHaynes]

 :plus one:

The government encouraged investments in film companies with tax breaks. Must be a slow news day.

:plus one:Last year Osbourne defended with the jobs created and expansion of the succesful film industry in the UK with Pinewood and shepperton undertaking large expansion projects.The press need to to do a bit more research

[General]

The government encouraged investments in film companies with tax breaks. Must be a slow news day.

'Encouraged'? - they still encourage. It's the reason why the City of London has different regulations and laws than the rest of London and why the U.K economy manages to maintain such a stronghold position-wise on the global market.

There are loopholes left, right and centre even to the point there's an entire professional spectrum for avoiding tax - such as 'family planning' (pass on assets this much earlier and avoid capital gains), or those who just point black say they're tax avoidance professionals. Buy more property, invest in this industry, support a charity...

I wouldn't be surprised if Tony Blair does it now he's no Longer PM...

Some people say it's screwing people over, some people say it's made completely legitimate so it's just intelligent.

[snarks]

Yes the Government encouraged it, HMRC have now said that they may not be legal. There are some ex players who are being threatened with Bankruptcy because of the HMRC demands, this is the first time I'd heard Murphy's name mentioned in relation to the scheme.

[VicHalomsLovechild]

I think its a bit out of order for something to be legal when you invest in it then its illegal. 

[Roberty]

The government encouraged investments in film companies with tax breaks. Must be a slow news day.

'Encouraged'? - they still encourage. It's the reason why the City of London has different regulations and laws than the rest of London and why the U.K economy manages to maintain such a stronghold position-wise on the global market.

There are loopholes left, right and centre even to the point there's an entire professional spectrum for avoiding tax - such as 'family planning' (pass on assets this much earlier and avoid capital gains), or those who just point black say they're tax avoidance professionals. Buy more property, invest in this industry, support a charity...

I wouldn't be surprised if Tony Blair does it now he's no Longer PM...

Some people say it's screwing people over, some people say it's made completely legitimate so it's just intelligent.

What makes you think that he and his wife were not doing it before?

The remarkable thing about our political leaders - everywhere - is that their modest official salaries always seem to produce such great wealth by the time they leave office

As Imelda Marcos is reported to have said about how her husband managed to make his small salary into billions
"Diligence, hard work, foresight, entrepreneurship and God's blessing"

[Berserker]

If Danny has done this he will go down in my estimation

[CottagersOnTour]

Shock horror well off people try to avoid paying tax, next weeks breaking news self employed people do jobs cash in hand and don't put it though their books

REALLY? I thought they declared every last penny....

Tax Avoidance is very different to Tax Evasion!

[TheManOnTheBus]

A footballer is rich, my god I never knew!

A rich person tries to minimise their tax bill, well I never.

Actually: poor (or at least not as rich) people do this too as much as they can.  Claim all expenses you can (if self-employed) and so on, use as much ISAs as you can, all within the law.

If Danny and the others did invest in these film funds, they clearly thought that it was within the law, but it turns out not. Hence a tax bill.

Hope it doesn't bankrupt him...