Tax barrister dodged a £2million HMRC bill by hiding his pay for seven years, court hears
A lawyer who posed as an ‘HMRC opponent’ allegedly avoided £2 million in tax by faking his earnings, a court heard.
Robert Venables KC, a leading tax lawyer, is facing three tax evasion charges over his annual earnings returns.
Southwark Crown Court heard Venables, 78, set up an ‘elaborate’ system to channel his income and deliberately failed to declare the full amount.
Prosecutor Julian Christopher claimed Venables had defrauded around £2.7 million in tax.
He told the jury on Wednesday: ‘There is no doubt in this case that Mr Venables paid less tax than he should have.
‘What you’ll have to decide is whether this was an honest mistake or whether he did it dishonestly.’
Mr Christopher said Venables’ career was built on representing taxpayers objecting to bills: ‘It seems Mr Venables saw himself as 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, put this on the very hard pile for now.”‘
Leading tax lawyer Robert Venables KC is alleged to have evaded £2 million in tax by falsifying his earnings
The case against Venables centers on annual self-assessments made by HMRC between 2014 and 2021 in which he “misrepresented the amount of his income for taxation purposes”.
Prosecutors say KC channeled his earnings through a partnership in which he was the sole earner and allegedly split the profits with others to reduce his tax bill.
Venables denies three charges of cheating public revenue.
The trial continues.
