Gabby Logan invested in tax avoidance scheme used by Gary Barlow and two Take That bandmates
World Cup presenter Gabby Logan invested in the tax avoidance scheme used by Gary Barlow and two Take That bandmates.
Gabby, who is on the BBC’s frontline team for Brazil, ploughed cash into part of a £12.3million partnership which aimed to shelter earnings from the taxman.
The TV star, who also hosts ITV’s Splash!, could be ordered to pay money to HM Revenue and Customs after a judge ruled Icebreaker was set up to help its members cut their tax bills.
One financial expert said: “Some members of Icebreaker argue they didn’t understand or know the mechanics of the scheme, but that is not going to wash with people who pay their full taxes.
“Gabby Logan is one of BBC Sport’s best known stars and certainly one of the biggest names now to be associated with Icebreaker.
“Taxpayers will want to know exactly what she was advised and knew.”
It has been alleged that Icebreaker was used to shelter £336million from the taxman for members including Barlow, his bandmates Howard Donald and Mark Owen and former England manager Terry Venables.
Gabby, 41, who presented Final Score between 2005 and 2013, joined a partnership set up by Icebreaker in 2008. Such partnerships purported to invest in creative industries.
They moved cash around to record huge losses, which enabled members to claim tax relief.
Accounts for the partnership Gabby invested in – known as Ivancroft – revealed £12.3million was pumped in by members but it recorded a first trading loss of £11.7million.
Members often risk little of their own cash and boost their investment with loans.
In the case of Ivancroft, £9.7million of the fund was borrowed from a bank in tax haven Jersey.
It is not known how much Gabby invested or if she used a loan to boost her investment.
If, for example, she earned £3million in the three years prior to joining Ivancroft, she would have expected a tax bill of about £1.5million at the 50 per cent top rate. A £3million loss on her Ivancroft investment would have wiped out that bill.
A spokesman for Gabby – a mother of two – said she did not wish to comment.
A year before joining Ivancroft she gave an interview about her finances.
Asked about saving for retirement, she said: “Property and the odd speculative investment. As well as property and Isas, I have occasionally bought shares and invested in businesses.”
Gabby, who lives in a £3.8million seven-bedroom house in High Wycombe, Bucks, is married to former rugby star Kenny Logan.
