Comedian Jimmy Carr apologises over tax avoidance scheme

COMEDIAN Jimmy Carr today said he had made a “terrible error of judgment” over his tax arrangements

His statement came after Prime Minister David Cameron branded the star “morally wrong” for seeking to avoid taxes.

Mr Cameron spoke out during a visit to Mexico, joining a chorus of criticism.

Mr Cameron said: “I think some of these schemes – and I think particularly of the Jimmy Carr scheme – I have had time to read about and I just think this is completely wrong.

“People work hard, they pay their taxes, they save up to go to one of his shows. They buy the tickets. He is taking the money from those tickets and he, as far as I can see, is putting all of that into some very dodgy tax avoiding schemes.

“Some of these schemes we have seen are quite frankly morally wrong.”

Jimmy Carr released a statement saying: “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 adviser 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 judgment.

“Although I’ve been advised the K2 Tax scheme is entirely legal, and has been fully disclosed to HMRC I’m no longer involved in it and will in future conduct my financial affairs much more responsibly.

“Apologies to everyone.”