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I must be getting old! I was at a meal with family and friends a few nights ago when the conversation turned to the recent death of Lester Piggott. What amazed me was the reaction of the younger people in the room: ‘Who is Lester Piggott? Was he a singer?’ They were all bright 30 somethings with a keen interest in sport, yet the name meant nothing to them.
I had to look up the date of the case and was shocked to find that it was in 1987 – 35 years ago. I was in the Inland Revenue then and I recall the impact the case had and the message it gave that nobody, however famous, was above the law. Lester Piggott himself seems to have left the Revenue with no alternative but to prosecute after he had been investigated at least twice before (reports differ on exactly what had happened) and signed incomplete statements of full disclosure.
The story that he was finally prosecuted because he paid a tax settlement with a cheque drawn on a previously undisclosed bank account apparently caused the Queen to comment that he was ‘not only rather naughty, but he was very stupid’. Sadly the story about the bank account seems to be a myth, but perhaps the truth will never be known.
The Lester Piggott story has enlivened many a tax talk over the years – it is certainly more interesting than a detailed analysis of the rules for group relief for consortium linked companies. But perhaps, based on the reaction the other night, it is time to retire it because it won’t mean much to many people in the audience. I am sure that before long somebody else famous will step into the breach.
If you do one thing...
Read HMRC’s revised guidance on business versus non-business activities for VAT (tinyurl.com/hmrcrcb102022).
