Match of the Day pundits Danny Murphy and Martin Keown have been hit with tax bills of up to £2.5million after investing in a suspected tax avoidance scheme. A string of celebrities and sports stars each paid a minimum £100,000 to invest in a movie venture that promised to combine box office hits with tempting tax breaks. Former England and Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy, 38, has been told to pay back £2.5million while ex-Arsenal centre back Martin Keown, 48, also faces a seven-figure  bill. HMRC has told them the cash is due by the end of the month. Mr Keown, who writes  for Sportsmail, said today: 'I can confirm I did invest in the film-finance scheme Ingenious, which has recently resulted in me receiving a retrospective tax bill.
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1,000 invested around  £100,000 in the Ingenious Film Partners scheme
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Television football pundits Danny Murphy and Martin Keown among them
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Mr Murphy said to owe £2.5m and Mr Keown seven-figures in unpaid tax
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Scheme helped finance films  Avatar and Life of Pi and offered tax breaks
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David Beckham, Gary Lineker, Wayne Rooney said to be among investors
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Previous Government changed tax rules to help the British film industry
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But HMRC has sent out bills because scheme constituted 'tax avoidance'
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Mr Keown said he paid bill swiftly when it arrived and 'always pays taxes'
Many schemes like @placeholder, who have been deemed by HMRC to be producing a tax advantage for members, have asked a court to overturn this decision.