Comic hits back at newspaper claims

Frankie Boyle has rubbished reports that he 'could' have dodged a £900,000 tax bill.

The Daily Mail today reported that the comedian avoided tax by dissolving a company of which he was the sole director.

And it accused him of hypocrisy as he had berated Jimmy Carr - with whom he shares an agent - for his offshore K2 tax scheme that meant he had paid as little as one per cent tax.

The Mail claimed that by dissolving Traskor Productions in October last year, Boyle 'could' have saved £880,000 by taking advantage of tax relief designed to aid entrepreneurs.

The company had assets valued at £3.1million including £2.85million which Boyle had effectively lent to himself.

However, Boyle blasted the story as 'bollocks' and revealed that he had paid £2.7million in tax over the past five years - just under 40 per cent of his income.

He tweeted: 'Amazed to read a Daily Mail story that is bollocks. Whatever next?'

And after checking with his accountant, he added: 'From 2007 I have paid £2.7million in tax and this equates to just under 40% of my income.

'There's a lot of things people do to avoid paying tax and I don't do any of them.

'I wound my company up for legal reasons separate from tax and my accountant applied for tax relief on this.This tax relief is approximately half of the tax saving the Mail quoted in its article today.

'I am certain I pay more tax than most people in show business and the Cabinet.'

The original story also quoted Boyle’s agent Hannah Chambers saying: ‘Traskor Productions Limited was a company of Frankie’s which has now been wound up.The company’s arrangements, its tax treatment and Frankie’s dealings in relation to the company were normal and legal.’

In his column in The Sun newspaper, Boyle had previously criticised Jimmy Carr, saying: 'If you’re rich, don’t look at it as tax avoidance, look at it as a children’s hospital buying you a pool table.’

Published: 30 Jun 2012