Scots comic Frankie Boyle hits back on Twitter over claims he avoided paying £900k in tax

FRANKIE BOYLE yesterday denied he was a tax dodger following claims that he crashed his firm to save £900,000.

The comedian said he had paid £2.7million in tax since 2007 – just under 40 per cent of his income.

He added: “I am certain I pay more tax than most people in showbusiness and the Cabinet.”

Mock the Week star Boyle denied claims that he has deliberately put his production company Traskor into liquidation to avoid a bill.

The Glasgwegian comic said he wound up the company for legal reasons and got tax relief of £450,000.

In a series of Twitter posts, Boyle said: “There’s a lot of things people do to avoid paying tax and I don’t do any of them.”

Earlier, Boyle’s agent Hannah Chambers issued a statement also refuting the allegations.

She said: “Traskor Productions Limited was a company of Frankie’s which has now been wound-up.

“The company’s arrangements, its tax treatment and Frankie’s dealings in relation to the company were normal and legal.”

Traskor, who Boyle set up in 2009, are said to have amassed assets of more than £3million from his earnings from TV, books, performances and DVDs.

It was claimed that liquidation of the company meant Boyle paid around 10 per cent tax on the company’s surplus, rather than 50 per cent. There was no suggestion it was illegal.

The claims were particularly embarrassing as Boyle had made a series of acerbic quips about fellow comic Jimmy Carr’s tax avoidance.

Last month, Carr apologised after it was revealed that he was the beneficiary of the K2 tax avoidance scheme, which protects money from tax in Jersey.

Carr is said to have put £3.3 million in the scheme.

The tax dodge is legal but Prime Minister David Cameron described Carr’s involvement as “morally” wrong.

Boyle joked: “Jimmy Carr has been attacked by Maxine Carr, who feels that he’s ruined the family’s good name.”

And in a tweet, he said: “It’s OK to avoid tax, providing every time you do a joke about a town being s*** you add, ‘partly down to me, I’m afraid’.”

Father-of-two Boyle has a reputation for being offensive.

He caused controversy on his TV show Tramadol Nights last year with comments about model Katie Price and her disabled son Harvey.

Boyle, who lives in the west end of Glasgow, is due to start a 60-date tour of the UK and Ireland next week which will last until November.