Overview
- Venables, a senior tax barrister, began giving evidence at Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday and denied three criminal charges alleging nearly £2 million of tax evasion.
- Prosecutors say the offences relate to self-assessment returns for 2014–2021 and involved routing his earnings through the RVQC Partnership with profits allocated to partners to reduce his reported income.
- The court heard allegations that some payments were routed to household staff as part of the arrangement and that Venables was the sole significant earner for the partnership.
- In his testimony Venables attacked the competence of HMRC specialists, referenced a 2005 merger of tax agencies and recalled past legal wins to frame his long career defending taxpayers.
- The defence will continue to call evidence and the jury must now decide whether the partnership allocations amounted to criminal tax evasion, a verdict that could sharpen scrutiny of similar partnership arrangements and HMRC practice.