Frankie Bankrupt

More money they get the greedier they get. Millionaire invests their money to get more money. Sad to see a legend like Frankie in this embarrassing situation but he should never have ended up in this mess.

https://x.com/DanNeidle/status/1900494272786305314

Pure greed. No sympathy.

Having paid tax all my working/retirement life, I don't have any sympathy for any anybody involved with tax avoidance schemes caught out by the HMRC. In my group of friends, the richer they are the better they are advised at avoiding paying tax, especially when owning their own companies. I admire them for having the guts to work for themselves but the ways they can legally avoid tax is hair-raising.

Self-assessment is open to so much abuse its eye-watering
I do my own one myself but know of others who employ "creative'' accountants
could come crashing down at some point having taken their word it's all kosher, however
the Tax Office simply don't have enough personnel to deal with anywhere near the returns submitted.

Mar 13, 2025 -- 4:10PM, maleuk01. wrote:

For this type of bankruptcy, which i put down as fraud needs jail time.End all these multi millionaires trying to avoid tax.Bet he still lives in a nice house, drives nice cars, fly's first class everywhere.Jail my son for your types.

Big time jail for these tax dodging thieves !Disgraceful how these multi millionaires think it is ok they dodge tax with all their wealth!
He should be ashamed , but like most jockeys they have little if zero morals when it comes to money

Tax dodging is illegal

Tax avoidance is immoral

what's more immoral in the case of Frankie.footballers  etc,they,ll negotiate  themselves a fee,deal which is what they think their worth NET,plus gifts etc and then pay for aggressive tax avoidance schemes to pick up as close to what they,d earn gross,and in sports terms its joe, public in tkt ,merchandise etc funding it

Like i said jockeys have little if no morals , Frankie is a little piece of ..... if this is his game . He needs to be named and shamed imo.

Just caught up on the news , he should be thrown into a cold dark prison for 10 years ! How disgraceful that rich entitled people think it is ok to behave this way ! This country is going down the pan , self entitled and horribly greedy , nasty little man

Frankie blaming his tax adviser but if you paying nearer zero tax instead of 60% +, your not a fool or silly your a thief,fraudster,tax evader etc,as with Jimmy carr,Barlow,rangers football club etc no ones going to bedwetting about rich people getting their taxes down a little but to think it's ok to pay 3% or less,when your stable staff. au pair,gardener etc are paying 30% plus with NI,you need to be spending a spell in chokey while you think about what you've done

Frankie's and the like   skint is a world away from the normal working mans skint .

should we feel sorry for him? like most wealthy people they have more than enough but they want more !

My Turkish consultant psychiatrist friend earns over £100k per annum. She does not get any perk being in the NHS except a discount buying a new EV; the statutory annual holidays; pay off work when sick. Now, she's thinking seriously of heading to UAE for at least 2.5x her present salary (mainly tax free) plus better work conditions; many of her colleagues are there already. She works a 5-day week plus 40 min travelling each way, each day. At the weekend she's reports to write and finish. She also wants visas for her parents to child-mind her young daughter whilst there.

My friend detested some of her ex-neighbours claiming social security and child benefit and driving fairly new SUVs at her expense. Her neighbours were mainly foreigners. Can anyone blame her? The sole loser will be the state which financed her education (loan/grant paid back in full). Post UAE she'll probably emigrate to Australia, New Zealand or possibly Canada (cold).

Tax avoidance is immoral ? - What drivel.

Is everybody paying into an ISA or a pension immoral ?

Everybody is perfectly entitled to manage their affairs to legally minimise their tax liabilities. In fact not doing so is gross stupidity.

Tax evasion is a criminal offence. Frankie is a criminal and top of any dumb and greedy list.

The notion that all rich people cheat on their taxes is also nonsense.

Without the rich and their taxes the country would be potless - they keep the whole tax show on the road.

You might not like it but it is the truth.

Tax avoidance is immoral


Thats some manure statement even by Betfair standards.

everyone knew what lester was , and he didnt really indulge in dettoris lifestyle,  lester hid his money under his bed didnt try scams and tax avoidence schemes , lester was a skinflint and a person who didnt pretend to be anything else, nothing  like this two faced  dettori

Transferring some of your tax allowance to your partner, Opening an ISA, Plugging a few gaps in National Insurance - all very straightforward and easily done by yourself in a few minutes on-line.

Once you start hiring teams of lawyers, accountants and dubious "financial advisers" pedalling dodgy loop-holes schemes, forming shell companies and pretending that you are based in the Cayman Islands (when your business is based in Surrey and you live in Berkshire) - then you are taking the p1ss and you know you are taking the p1ss - you deserve anything you get if and when they catch up with you.

Obviously there is a difference between a bit of sensible/prudent tax avoidance and outright tax evasion - but I would imagine most of the people that cross that line KNOW full well that they have crossed the line. The people "advising" them almost certainly know.

I understand he's filed for bankruptcy. Could he still end up for a spell at HMP if he pleads ignorance and poverty? HMRC does not just accept bankruptcy for what it is, surely, esp someone of his profile and career longevity.

think jail would only be a possibility if he concealed assets from HMRC and they came to light later
as it did with Boris Becker, there are several conditions for bankruptcy and timeframes could come in play
if he has put assets in his wifes name etc to avoid seizure and pay creditors (taxman) at least some of what he is owed.

Who remembers Quinn. Wanted to go bankrupt in ni . Told the authorities he lived there. cause it's quicker than roi. He did time. For hiding cash .Are his sons involved in quinnbet

Diddy man .....

My Turkish consultant psychiatrist friend earns over £100k per annum. She does not get any perk being in the NHS

lol

Taxpayer backed, index linked, zero risk, early paying pension will have a value counted in the millions.

And it can be recycled into a dc scheme (with the correct advice!)

A jockey of his demand and career longevity should pay income tax at the correct/set level. A jockey profession is neither manual labour nor a risky enterprise, is it? I just cannot understand how he'd not pay the taxman and file for bankruptcy.

Keir Starmer’s tax bill reveals he sold field for £276k
Overall, the Labour leader paid just over £99k on his £405k income, or 24.5 per cent

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of hypocrisy by Conservatives over a tax exempt pension deal he has from a previous job.

Sir Keir criticised measures in the Budget which scrapped the £1m cap on lifetime pensions savings.

The Telegraph reported, external Sir Keir got a special "tax unregistered" pension scheme when he stood down as Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in 2013.

Labour says it was standard practice for retiring DPPs to get such a deal.

But senior Conservative MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith told The Telegraph it made a "mockery" of Labour's position on the lifetime pension allowance, and was as "close to hypocrisy as it is possible to get".

nobody wants to pay more tax than they can possibly avoid. even the current pm it appears!

Is he not paye with retainers, etc? if so, this is pretty clear-cut.

lots of big oil companies set up companies in malta, its a paper company, a door and nothing else, where a local picks up the mail every few days.....all done for tax avoidance.....i could name , names but i wont.....btw, i know this from personal experience.

suppose hell be back riding full time, and on morning line every saturday again , and ed gushing all over him

the fella advertising/using this scheme sent rangers in to bankruptcy ,advising them to pay their tax through the same trust ,anyone fooled/conned in to using it was fooled willfully,after rangers I suspect the bloke was amazed he could get frankies tax advisers to buy in to this scheme

if Frankie's put 30 million in to the trust over last 6/7 years bloke charges 10% of the deposit,that's a tidy 3 million tucked away,even Frankie no,s what he,s paying someone 3 million for

if Frankie's put 30 million in to the trust over last 6/7 years bloke charges 10% of the deposit,that's a tidy 3 million tucked away,even Frankie no,s what he,s paying someone 3 million for

If something is too good to be true, it usually is (iffy). Only a greedy and (iffy) person will go along with it. It's prudent to seek a 2nd/3rd opinion, and re-evaluate.

guess we all on him in 5.00 wolves 11/2 to 7/2

If he did evade tax, use dodgy schemes is that not illegal and therefore should face prosecution and jail?

Even if he declares bankrupt to avoid paying, a crime has still been committed has it not?

Regardless even if he declares bankruptcy.

I do not have any sympathy for him or the likes of him. Any individual earning the colossal amount of money he did and still do and yet unable to pay the tax bill is either extremely extravagant or extremely greedy or extremely naive and stupid. Which of these is Mr Dettori?

he'll be apllying for PIP shortly, sore head. cheers.

He'll still be riding well into his 60s. Saturday evening at Dunstall Park just before Christmas and he's been booked up for a couple in the 0-60 and a classified stakes! Trying to nick a couple of bags so be can buy the great grandkids a few prezzies for Christmas. Rolling back the years he gets every last ounce out of one of his reluctant mounts, a 43 race maiden, to get him up right on the line.....form is temporary, class is permanent!

Compare this grubby news story to that of Lee Castelton the former post master who was accused by the Post office of stealing £25,000

Mr Castleton spent two years trying to defend himself but when the legal insurance ran out he was left with a legal bill of £321,00 and like the Italian jockey declared himself bankrupt.


From the inquiry it was clear the post office wished to make an example of Mr Castleton in order to deter other post masters.

While Mr Dettori was earning his millions around the world did it never occur to him the cleaners who worked in the jockeys changing rooms or the guys serving drinks in the bars in the many racetracks around the world were probably on the very basic wage and a zero hour contracts.

Whilst Lee Castleton can hold his head high and will receive his O.B.E. next month Mr Dettori should pay the tax man what is due plus the penalty charges they will make.

To begin with, it must surely be agreed that Frankie was a brilliant jockey. Could get a horse to run without smashing the backside off it. Yes, he made some errors but he was always in the firing line and those people will get it wrong from time to time.

Also, he has done as lot for the sport through his high profile.

BUT, it really irritates me when a big earner gets in this type of trouble.

For god's sake, why not just use tried and tested tax avoidance schemes (all ok with me, let's not forget even an ISA is a tax avoidance scheme) and then pay the tax on the rest? I have been a higher rate tax payer for 43 year now and learned my lesson some time ago that the ability to get a good night's sleep without worrying about the taxman and some dodge-pot financial / tax advisor is worth a lot of money.

My bet is that Frankie now feels the same.

Still feel sad for him but issues do seem to follow him around!!

listen to that punters forum/pal fella on that AK podcast yesterday blaming his advisers more than Frankie ,to trusting etc, but lets be honest if Frankie's been paying around 3% tax instead of around 60% tax for last 6 yrs ,without in the words of his defenders KNOWING IT, he would have gone bankrupt along time ago if paying 60%,he,s basically for arguments sake been living on 30 million + gifts,when he should have been living on around 14 million, another MESSI AND SON

I remember a couple of radio commentators remarking that the tv persona of jovial Mr Dettori was nothing like his real personality. If he'd asked Angela Rayner, she could surely have recommended her personal tax advisor?

45% tax is exorbitant, perhaps if it was fairer people would be less enthusiastic about avoiding it. Imagine earning £10M and having to give nearly £5M of it to these fools to spunk away on their pet projects. That's not to excuse cheating, but to understand the temptation.

I think everyone who earns a wage in the UK must pay tax in the UK after every tax relief entitled legally has been considered. How many earn £10m annually? I can appreciate 45% is a huge amount. Then again money makes money eg an investment/bank savings. An established business with a history of profits will tend to generate a fairly stable level of profit on average. And, this is usually not too taxing, and does not involve personal manual labour eg stocks and shares, etc.

Would anyone mind paying 45% of a large amount eg salary plus bonus in the City in tax if it was not physical labour or working 24/7 digging up roads/plumbing/etc? I'd not.

It's a massive disincentive, culls ambition and progress. In my view 25% should be the very most anyone pays on earned income. Obviously people who have that level of wealth are paying more taxes on luxury purchases, stamp duty et al. 45% is a punishment for being successful. And like I alluded to, the other side of the ledger is that much of it is absolutely wasted. You probably wouldn't mind so much if you could see the fruits of your tax extraction instead of bespoke shoes for civil servants and 4 star hotels for illegal immigrants.

why don't these multi millionaires just invest in property? it's literally as safe as houses!

Why hire people to advise you to invest in things that are risky, must just be pure greed, invest in property and you can't go wrong, monthly rental income and can sell up when you want.

makes no sense how these millionaires go bust.

Hows he going to evade/avoid tax doing that Scandinavian? Which was the essence of the scheme.

Investing in commercial properties is acceptable. It's a business afterall. However, buying up scarce residential properties using buy-to-let facility, and letting them out privately ought to be outlawed given the scarcity in affordable housing for the majority esp the younger generation. Most countries overseas have draconian terms and conditions on this eg imposing stringent restriction and limitation on the number of purchases; punitive 50/75% (selling) profit to the government; unrelated ownership; etc.

There is a "hidden" cost in wealth creation of this kind. It's iniquitous and it punishes the younger generation where challenges are aplenty. I believe affordable housing (not homelessness) is the least the younger generation could expect from the UK society; secure housing -> security -> stability -> mental, health and social harmony -> nhs (infrequent) -> wealthier country.

ex-footballers with 50 property portfolios, and young people can't afford to buy a home, they're just lucky to have a roof over their head.

remember Tony Jacklin and co paying 90% in 70,s and all moving to Jersey,but karma got them as well as their horded away millions went down with the LOYLD INSURANCE BIG BANG
you've got to  remember in the case of high profile sportsmen,celebs etc ,their negotiating their wage NET,so it doesn't really matter what the TAX RATE is,if they think their worth 5 million a yr ,they,ll just come up with a gross  figure that gives them 5 mill net,no problem with that if someone thinks their worth it/think fans/customers will fund it, but as I said earlier once  they get that gross figure they then pay someone else in Frankie's case 10& of that gross figure to keep as much as that gross figure as they can way above the 5 mill they said they were happy with,and its paid for by people on PAYE paying for tkts, sky,bt,tv,streaming services,merchandise,inflated food,drink prices etc,etc

People in this bracket can live anywhere. So you'd want them to be based in your country, spending a lot of money and paying a lot of tax. Unless you're a liberalist and want to punish people who are successful for themselves.

in what world is paying the tax at the rate  your legally expected to pay  been punished ?

#frankrupt

the 45% tax rate is a punishment. why should anyone have almost half of their earnings handed over to the government to spunk down the toilet. it's obscene in my opinion.

its obscene and a punishment that I,m not allowed to drive at 160mph in my Maserati, do you think I should be allowed to ?

go to germany

At the end of the day if one is not happy or does not like the tax rates of their place of abode one is free to depart to pasture new eg Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, etc, where corruption of every kind is so rife and prevalent. What good or advantage is it residing in a low tax rate place when the amenities and rule of law are virtually on-existent.

I fully agree a 45% flat tax rate for the rich is punitive if the proceeds derived are used or "wasted" on non-contributory citizens, the work-shy or mums with babies by different fathers in welfare benefits, housing, education and the NHS.

Scratching a living at Turfway tonight...

Do not feel sorry for him. If the ordinary Tom, Dick and Harriet could pay the necessary taxes eg paye Mr Dettori with his vast and easily accumulated income ought to too. Non-compliance through greed himself or his "advisors" cannot be used as an excuse or to solicit sympathy from ordinary horseracing supporters.

Cheating the taxmen knowingly or unknowingly (using advisors) is not the behaviour of a respectable citizen of the country he's earned his vast income from.

Bankruptcy is for people who cannot afford to pay their debts. It should not be abused by people who don't want to pay their debts once they've been exposed for tax dodging. Until Frankie has sold everything and turns up to the races in just shorts and a saddle, he should get selling. Zero sympathy, you pay someone to avoid tax but it turns out you evade, buck stops with you. Pay your debts.

I suspect you mean elicit (not solicit). :)

he may need to, housewive's favourite.

I haven't looked at the details, but the interest rate hmrc charge on late payments is penal. So if you look at the fines, the liability calculated and then compounding interest of 7-8%, it could well be outside of the value of assets that could be liquidated.

he just won on Banks!

It may well be that the liability itself could be covered. But if the original liability was say 40% of income, and the fines and late payment charges double the amount, then it's effective 80% of his income. A fair amount of net income would have gone on paying his staff and various agents. So, no escaping bankruptcy if the whole amount was demanded. I guess that's why hmrc try to negotiate a settlement.

he just won on Banks!


  Pity he didnt use them.

Cannot or unwilling to accept or do the sentence do not do or commit the crime in the 1st place. Mr Dettori tried and failed (according to HMRC) to cheat the country of taxes he ought to pay on his various sources of income.

Maybe a spell in HMP will send a strong deterrent to any future professional jockey with the mindset of Mr Dettori illegal tax schemes. Or this is only a tip of the iceberg?

He should face the appropriate penalties. My point around it is more of a general one, it's easy to see the attraction of tax avoidance schemes when the government tries to snatch almost half of your earnings. Any all you see is them spaffing it away on people who don't fancy working, but do like free cars and free money.

Frankie done ok ,5 kids through private schools,basically 20% dsiscount with VAT tax break,wouldn't be shocked to see Frankie's home/stables etc registered as a farm for tax purposes

His statutory tax-relief on his family and mortgage would amount to many multiples of any ordinary Londoner including the London waiting; the higher the jump, the greater the fall.

No sympathy from me whatsoever. No hard labour was involved in procuring his wealth. Pay up,...otherwise the greed, the self-pity and stress could render serious future health issues for him in the future.

Yeah, Cider is probably right.

Sorry yer honour - it wasn't my pure greed, arrogance or a sense of superiority/entitlement that drove me to ripping-off my fellow countrymen, it was my strong political convictions.

Lets be honest - if the higher rate was only 20%, the exact same bunch of people would still be at it. People that cheat, cheat, it's what they do. It's in their DNA. Pretending you'd happily pay your way if only the Govt was more efficient?

as proved by Gary Barlow, Jimmy carr.frankie etc, etc,didn't try to get their tax rate down to 40,35,30,25,20,15,10%,they were caught trying to get it down to 3% and below, if they all paid 3% and got away with it,they,d now be using frankies scheme trying to get it down to zero, Frankie actually put his rate up by 10%,by paying the fella 10% commission doubt he,ll be handing it back

Yeah, Cider is probably right.


Usually.

I'm clearly not stating absolutely everyone would not use daft, risky schemes to try and avoid it. But fewer would if the scalping was fairer, or it wasn't wasn't wasted. Ideally, both.

so why don't they scalp it down  to the 40% and 20% everyone else pays ?, instead of 3% and below ?

Frankie paid someone 10% of the money he was trying to hide

If Mr Dettori is smart he ought to claim the 10% back from his advisors. Then consider a legal case against his tax advisors eg HMRC penalty plus interest esp if the scheme advised and proposed by his tax advisors was so blatantly flawed and contravened the basic structure of the tax.

Anyway, I'm glad HMRC won otherwise, a few of the other high-earning jocks would have followed. And, Mr Dettori could demand and receive a commission for every recommendation from his tax advisors.

Retired footballer also fallen foul of HMRC, employed by SKY as a pundit via a third party company. They've successfully claimed £300k - didn't think SKY paid that well ! Strange as I thought that Lineker got away with this ploy with the BBC ?

their all slightly different, lineker ,orraine Kelly got thumbs ,eamon Holmes thumbs down
Danny Murphy lost all his in a dodgy dubia property scheme ponzed out by that journeymen Birmingham city footballer
tommy cottee struggled because it never occurred to him he wouldn't always be on 30 grand a week,divorce,kids school fees did for him,says been pundit on sky saved him from bankruptcy

Frankie's bankruptcy extended another 12 months, after failing to give full disclosure of his assets.

Amazing that he told porkies

Great 'ambassador' for Amo

It ought to have been 5 years given the sum involved and blatant transgression. I hope he decamps to his homeland for his disdain behaviour to UK Plc.

He's an apt ambassador for Amo because unless they get a golden goose stallion or two pretty sharpish they'll be going the same way.

Amo are living on borrowed time and money

Well we know what happened to Boris Becker when he didn't give full disclosure of his assets.

Boris went through marriages which is the quick way to being skint.  Frankie never been divorced.  I wonder whether he fell foul of a similar investment scheme that scammed the PL footballers?

Horrible individual.

Unbelievable! Someone who got so much from UK Horseracing can default on taxes and now not forthcoming with asset disclosures. I think UK Plc needs to consider ejecting him or rescinding his British citizenship if he's one.

The man is clearly taking the mickey out of ordinary UK taxpayers and UK hospitality and UK opportunities accorded to him.

Going the same way as Lester. Big Tax Fraud = jail time.

mpossible123 • March 5, 2026 7:14 PM GMT
Unbelievable! Someone who got so much from UK Horseracing can default on taxes and now not forthcoming with asset disclosures. I think UK Plc needs to consider ejecting him or rescinding his British citizenship if he's one.

The man is clearly taking the mickey out of ordinary UK taxpayers and UK hospitality and UK opportunities accorded to him.

According to The Racing Post last week, Apollo Global Management asked Amo last week to provide more security on their £40 million loan ( 10.25% interest).

Would not do that without reason. Looks like the only asset Amo has is stock.

What ever happened to building on firm foundations.

Premiere League Players the wretched individual is an Agent for still exists

Good lord the bell is everywhere scowling and prowling the forum spewing bile…..

More desperate attempts by the Two Bobber to provoke a response.
The cretin has no shame

Even Delbert has seen through him

Barstool, Apollo Global have a few problems of their own.....

   https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/apollo-leon-...