Moyles in car dealer claim to save tax

A tax court named Moyles and two other men as having taking part in a scheme called “working wheels” which counted “450 fund managers, celebrities and other high earners between 2006 and 2008” as members.

The scheme worked by allowing members to say they had incurred large fees working in the second-hand car trade which they could claim back against their tax bill.

A published judgment from the Tax Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal said Moyles’s self-assessment tax return for the financial year ending April 5, 2008, when presenting Radio One’s Breakfast Show, said he “had engaged in self-employment as a used car trader”.

Moyles did not give evidence directly to the tribunal but did submit “a brief witness statement”. The tribunal described that evidence as “very brief and rather uninformative”.

The judgment said: “It is clear from the statement he too entered the scheme for no purpose other than to achieve a tax saving, and he took no interest in the trade.”

It said Moyles was “anxious to be reassured that the scheme was lawful, and that he would not have to undertake any trading himself”.

Exchequer Secretary David Gauke said: “This is an example of why taxpayers should not fall for promoters selling schemes often too good to be true.”