Robson Green: tax avoiders should be ashamed
The actor has some strong words for celebrities like Jimmy Carr
Actor Robson Green has hit out at celebrities he claims have avoided paying their fair share of tax.
In an interview with Radio Times the actor, who appears in the upcoming ITV drama Grantchester, says he is proud to be a top-rate taxpayer and rounds on those he accuses of – legally – seeking to shelter their earnings from the Inland Revenue.
He said: “Anybody who tells me they’re not going to pay tax… we’ve got an NHS system on its knees… I tell you what, my son was in real trouble when he was young and we took him to the hospital, there were four specialists waiting for him. That’s why you pay your taxes. We’ve got a police system who protect us, we’ve got firemen who put out fires. We’ve got defence, man. That’s what tax is for."
Green also named the comedian Jimmy Carr who was found to have used a Jersey-based tax scheme called K2 two years ago.
Green added: “Why don’t you want to invest in that? I don’t get it. These f***ers who try to avoid it should hang their heads in shame. That comedian… What’s his name? Carr? W***er. I mean, just w***er. No, he’s not getting away with it for me. Sorry, there are people dying because we don’t pay our taxes. I’m proud to be a 50 per cent tax-payer, very proud of it. Sorry, you’re not getting away with it. Shame on you… because you didn’t pay your tax.”
Jimmy Carr apologised and changed his tax arrangements in 2012.
He said he had "made a terrible error of judgement" over the arrangement and was no longer involved in the K2 tax shelter.
Grantchester begins on ITV on Monday 6th October. Green, who found fame in the ITV drama Soldier Soldier in the 1990s and as one half of singing duo Robson and Jerome, plays plain-speaking Inspector Geordie Keating in the 1950s-set drama.
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