One of UK’s leading tax lawyer accused of ‘dodging £2m bill to HMRC’

A prominent lawyer known for positioning himself as an “opponent of HMRC” has been accused of evading nearly £2 million in tax.

Robert Venables KC, one of Britain’s leading tax lawyers, allegedly falsified earnings returns over a seven-year period, a court has heard. He faces three tax evasion charges.

Southwark Crown Court heard Venables set up an “elaborate” system for his income as a solicitor and was accused of deliberately failing to declare some of the money he benefited from.

Prosecutor Julian Christopher KC said Venables “paid almost £2 million less in tax than he should have”.

He told the jury: “There is no doubt in this case that Mr Venables paid less tax than he should have paid.

“What you have to decide is whether this was an honest mistake or whether he did it dishonestly – as the prosecution alleges.”

Venables became a barrister when he was called to the Bar in 1973, and in 1990 he became a Queen’s Counsel (QC), now a King’s Counsel (KC).

Mr Christopher said Venables’ professional reputation was built on his work representing taxpayers challenging HMRC over disputed tax bills.

“In practice this was the nature of his court work – putting forward arguments as to why HMRC’s analysis of the factual circumstances, or the law, or both were wrong – unless, of course, his advice was that HMRC were in fact right and the taxpayer should pay what HMRC was demanding.

“Mr Venables apparently considered himself something of an enemy of HMRC.

“For example, he told those attending a tax seminar that as soon as they saw that HMRC was involved in a case on behalf of the taxpayer, HMRC said: ‘I think we’re going to give up on this case, we’re going to put this in the very hard pile for now.’”

The case against Venables centers on annual self-assessments submitted to HMRC between 2014 and 2021, where he is said to have “misrepresented the amount of his income for taxation purposes”.

The court heard KC channeled his profits through an entity called the RVQC Partnership, where he was the sole income earner but the profits were distributed to partners, including himself, allegedly to reduce his tax liability.

Mr Christopher told jurors that the trial dealt with illegal tax evasion rather than taking advantage of accidental loopholes in the law, which is legal and known as “tax avoidance”.

“We are in no way interested in approving or disapproving of rich people finding ingenious ways to save taxes,” he said.

“Different people may have different views on this matter, but those views are not the subject of this case and play no part in what needs to be decided.

“In this case, we are concerned with the difference between using the law to find a way to pay less tax and dishonestly claiming that you are liable to pay less tax than you know you actually have to pay.

“Dishonestly paying less than you know you are owed is not only tax avoidance, it is also tax evasion.”

“This is cheating HMRC on tax you know you owe.”

Venables denies three charges of cheating public revenue. The trial continues.