Jimmy Carr apologises on Twitter for tax avoidance scheme ‘error of judgement’
Jimmy Carr has used Twitter to apologise for being involved in the K2 tax scheme, which lets users pay as low as 1% income tax.
In a series of tweets, the comedian said: “I appreciate as a comedian, people will expect me to ‘make light’ of this situation, but I’m not going to in this statement as this is obviously a serious matter.
“I met with a financial advisor and he said to me “Do you want to pay less tax? It’s totally legal.” I said “Yes.”
“I now realise I’ve made a terrible error of judgement.
“Although I’ve been advised the K2 Tax scheme is entirely legal, and has been fully disclosed to HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs), I’m no longer involved in it and will in future conduct my financial affairs much more responsibly. Apologies to everyone. Jimmy Carr”
It has been reported that Carr is one of over a thousand beneficiaries who shelter £168m from the taxman each year using the scheme, which HMRC says is under investigation.