Note: The following story contained information from the Guardian which incorrectly named Placido Domingo among the list of stars accused of avoiding paying their taxes. The story has been corrected to reflect the updated and accurate information.


Mel Gibson and guitarist for the group Dire Straits Mark Knopfler, among others, have all been accused of tax avoidance in new leaked documents that were released to the press last Wednesday.

The Guardian published a list of names that included artists, athletes, a race car driver, a well-known tailor and other famous people who had their accounts allegedly managed in a tax haven located in the island of Jersey, off the coast of Normandy, France, El Dínamo reported. The released documents have been named the "Jersey Files."

The Guardian apparently gained access to these files that had approximately 20,000 names, which were managed by Kleinwort Benson, a wealth management firm. The files were originally divulged to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in Washington. The ICIJ then gave them to the Guardian, El Dínamo reported.

The Island of Jersey has sovereignty from the U.K. but is still dependent on them for other matters such as defense.

A tax haven is a place for some companies, and in this case, famous people who subscribe to a plan with which they end up paying little or no taxes. Sometimes, it involves investors who put money into some sort of business venture that will drive a loss, and then those losses are balanced against the person's earnings. That reduces their tax bill, The Independent reported.

The alleged celebrities involved in this tax haven scheme is huge. Besides Gibson, other names allegedly include British politicians who have had offshore deals such as Financial Services Minister Andrea Leadsom and deceased High Court judge Sir Edward Evans-Lombe, whose wife and family are supposedly the beneficiaries, the Guardian reported.

One British minister, who campaigns on tax issues for the Labor party, is calling on the British cabinet to take swift action on this issue.

How did this tax haven get so out of control? The wealth management firm Kleinwort Benson were the first London bankers to operate in the semi-independent island since the early 1960s. More than fifty years later, while international governments have managed to stop tax havens, it has been reported that Kleinwort Benson still manages nearly 6 billion pounds in assets, the Guardian reported.

Kleinwort Benson's motto is "A fortune once acquired should never be endangered." This company reportedly thrived on that motto. Islands like Jersey are allowed to set their own tax rates, high or low. Also, the British political management of the island made it attractive for some people to invest there because there would no change in governments, the Guardian reported.

Accounts like these off the coast of France have been flourishing; from 1970, Jersey has had assets of 500 million pounds, and since 2007, it is at 220 billion pounds.

There is someone on the case to perhaps disable these tax havens. In a few weeks, a new finance bill is coming, and it is the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) that is seeing to that. The HMRC will have powers and therefore will be able to enact laws that could force people to pay challenged tax claims. Those individuals will then have 90 days to pay upon collecting the tax demands, and they will receive their money back once the tax argument is resolved and in their favor, the Independent reported.