Eamonn’s facing a £250k tax bill after losing court battle
TELEVISION presenter Eamonn Holmes is facing a £250,000 bill after losing a case against the taxman over how he is paid.
The Belfast-born host of ITV’s This Morning had argued he was a freelance and received payments via his company.
However, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has been cracking down on the practice as it can lead to lower taxes being paid.
The Mail Online reported Mr Holmes could now owe as much as £250,000 in taxes on top of payments he has already made.
A spokesperson for Holmes said: “Eamonn has always considered himself a self-employed freelancer and has never knowingly avoided paying taxes.
“He is taking the time to understand the extensive document detailing the outcome.
“Like many people across the country and from many differthat ent professions, he is seeking to comprehend what this means; and simply wishes for clarity and consistency across the guidelines so that people don’t suffer the same confusion over these retrospective IR35 rulings.”
IR35 is a piece of legislation that allows HMRC to collect additional payment where a contractor is an employee in all but name.
Holmes said in 2018 that he would be a “test case”, claiming if HMRC won they would “go after everyone else”.
At the time, he said: “I was in a court in central London for a week in June. I’ve been freelance for 28 years and that’s been okay. “Now they’ve said it’s not okay. “They have reinvented the rules in the past couple of years.
“There is nobody more freelance than me, but they are trying to prove our jobs are regular and guaranteed. They could go at any moment.”
Earlier that year, it was revealed that more than 100 BBC presenters were facing massive tax bills after HMRC won a case against regional presenter Christa Ackroyd. She was paid as a freelance through a personal services company at the request of the corporation.
But HMRC ruled that she should have paid the same level of tax as a BBC employee.
A tax tribunal held in Leeds ruled that Ms Ackroyd would have to stump up more than £400,000.