Gary Barlow, U2 and David Bowie join mock tax avoidance festival

Following the recent Take That tax avoidance controversy, Gary Barlow has found himself on the line-up for a fake festival that celebrates tax dodgers, alongside other music stars who have been caught up in similar scams.

The line-up features three stages, mocked up by Channel 4 News, including Exile stage which reflects moving your assets out of the reach of the HMRC and the Scheme Stage which involves setting up fake companies for tax breaks. There is also a comedy stage, just for giggles and mostly for an excuse to include Jimmy Carr on the line-up. 

The extent of what each artist has done to feature on the list can be found on the Channel 4 News website. David Bowie is mentioned for his move to Switzerland to avoid the 83% income tax for high earners and The Rolling Stones moved to France in the 70s to avoid the Labour government's taxes. Meanwhile U2 moved their royalty company to the Netherlands to avoid the Irish governments tax after €250,000 of earnings. 

Take That meanwhile grabbed headlines after their involvement (bar Jason Orange) in the Icebreaker Tax Management avoidance scheme. Meanwhile Liberty X were involved in the Tower MCashback scheme which was ruled upon by the courts in 2011.