Ecclestone, currently on trial in Germany facing allegations that he was behind a £26m bribe paid to a bank official, has, the BBC says, been the subject of a nine year-long investigation by HMRC into his family trust arrangements in Liechtenstein.
The BBC reports today that Panorama's investigation goes back to 1995 when Mr Ecclestone secured ownership of the lucrative TV rights of Formula 1.
Shortly afterwards he moved this asset offshore, giving the rights to his then wife, Slavica.
She transferred the rights to a family trust in Liechtenstein, before selling them for a huge profit, free of UK tax.
The BBC alleges that this may be “the biggest individual tax dodge in British history, and is legally watertight provided Ecclestone did not set up, or control, the trust".
According to legal transcripts obtained by the BBC’s Panorama programme, Ecclestone has admitted he could have faced a tax bill of more than $2bn (£1.2bn).
The BBC One Panorama programme, ‘Bernie Ecclestone: Lie, Bribes and Formula One’ will be presented tonight at 20.30pm by Darragh MacIntyre.
There is no mention in the BBC report of the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility amnesty scheme having been used in this particular case. The LDF was conceived in 2009 by HM Revenue & Customs, in cooperation with Liechtenstein's government, to encourage UK taxpayers with undisclosed offshore accounts to formally declare them, in exchange for a relatively less severe penalty than if they came forward in the UK or if they were found out by HMRC.
International Adviser reported in April that the revenue the UK Government will see in its coffers as a result of the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility amnesty scheme is likely to fall significantly short of its £3bn target.
A string of high profile cases brought by HMRC in recent years includes Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp and co-defendant Milan Mandaric cleared of tax evasion.
HMRC also closed down a tax avoidance scheme used by celebrities and fund managers, including one-time Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles and former Liontrust fund manager Eoghan Flanagan.
