Boyle took to Twitter to defend himself following reports he potentially benefited from clever, but legal, accounting practices.

According to reports, Boyle's company accounts show this may have taken place through the voluntary liquidation of his firm last year. But the father-of-two, who joked about fellow comedian Jimmy Carr's shameless tax avoidance, claimed the story was "b******s", adding: "Whatever next? I'm going to stick up the details as soon as my accountant wakes up."

He added: "From 2007 I have paid £2.7 million in tax and this equates to just under 40% of my income. There's a lot of things people do to avoid paying tax and I don't do any of them. I wound my company up for legal reasons separate from tax and my accountant applied for tax relief on this. This tax relief is approximately half of the tax saving ... quoted. I am certain I pay more tax than most people in show business and the Cabinet."

Boyle was the sole director of Traskor Productions Ltd, incorporated in England and Wales on December 17, 2009, and wound up last October. By winding up the firm, he may have been able to pay a tax rate of just 10%, instead of 50%. This is because he would have been entitled to "entrepreneur" tax relief, saving him £880,762.

A forensic accountant claimed that if Boyle met the qualifying conditions "there is nothing illegal about what he may be doing, but he could save a very large amount of tax potentially".