Chris Moyles could face 'huge tax bill' after tax avoidance appeal fails

Chris Moyles could be forced to pay a huge tax bill after a court ruled against an appeal in a £290million tax avoidance case.

The former Radio 1 DJ claimed he was an unsuccessful car dealer in an avoidance scheme, known as Working Wheels. I

It was used by 450 people – two of whom tried to appeal against the tribunal ruling.

NT Advisors, which runs numerous tax avoidance initiatives, has told Working Wheels investors that HMRC "will seek to collect outstanding tax and interest".

According to a letter obtained by The Mirror, NT boss Matthew Jenner described the result as "disappointing".

"Clearly this is a disappointing result, made the more given our efforts to be heard by the higher Courts have been thwarted," wrote Jenner.

"We believe that the courts, especially the lower Tribunals, are being very much affected by press coverage on tax avoidance and that is a dangerous development in any judicial system."

A spokesperson for the DJ could not be reached.

Moyles claimed to have run up £1million of losses selling £3,731 worth of used cars. He tried to offset the alleged loss in the 2007-08 financial year by using it against his other outcome, which included his £700,000 BBC salary.

The DJ apologised for his involvement in the scheme in February this year.

"Upon advice, I signed up to a scheme which I was assured was legal," he said. "Despite this, my knowledge of the dealings of the scheme were naive. I'm not a tax expert and acted on advice I was given. This was a mistake and I accept the ruling without reservation."

Numerous celebrities have been accused of allegedly used legal tax avoidance schemes, including Jimmy Carr, Gary Barlow, Sir Michael Caine and David Beckham.