HUGE TAX BILL
»»Corrie star facing second bankruptcy »»Petitionsare a last resort, insists HMRC
I love the programme ..Corrie has given me so much in life
BILL ROACHE WANTS TO BE KEN UNTIL HE IS 100
CORONATION Street legend Bill Roache is facing bankruptcy for a second time, after HMRC filed a petition against him.
It is understood that Mr Roache, 91, who has played Ken Barlow since 1960, earns about €292,000 a year and is the highest paid cast member.
HMRC does not comment on individual cases but a spokesman said it supports those with tax debts and does all it can to help them get out of debt, such as offering instalment plans.
A Coronation Street spokesman said: “We’re really sorry to hear of Bill’s financial situation. He has an ongoing contract with Coronation Street and remains a much-loved member of the In 2018 the Mirror told how the star faced a huge bill after investing in a €585million tax avoidance scheme. It was unknown how much he had invested in Twofold First Services LLP, owned by a firm in the Cayman Islands.
He was one of 288 investors who entered the scheme and put in, on average, €2million. Papers showed he joined the scheme in March 2012.
It involved claiming tax relief from the artificial losses of a land-owning business. The complex arrangement meant investors could use the paper loss to reduce their income tax.
A tribunal later ruled in favour of HMRC, which successfully argued Twofold was “a tax avoidance arrangement”. It was branded “abusive and artificial” by the UK Treasury.
Yesterday a HMRC spokesman said it files for a petition for bankruptcy with the court to obtain a bankruptcy order.
He said: “We might have an outstanding tax debt, if someone refused to engage with us and pay the tax that is due, then as a last resort we will issue a bankruptcy action. That is to recover the tax they owe but, as I say, it is the sort of thing we do as a last resort.”
Mr Roache was declared bankrupt 24 years ago after he successfully sued a newspaper for describing him as “boring”. He was awarded €58,000 in damages but it was the same amount he had turned down in an out-of-court settlement before the case, leaving him liable for €140,000 in costs.
He then sued his law firm for neglicast.” gence but was declared bankrupt in 1999.
He remains one of soap’s best loved TV stars and last month signed another year-long deal to stay on as Ken.
He has appeared in the ITV1 soap since it was first broadcast and has said he wants to keep playing Ken until he is 100. In 2022 the actor, who lives in Wilmslow, Cheshire, received an OBE from King Charles for services to drama and charity.
Mr Roache, the world’s longest serving soap star, has said: “Coronation Street has given me so much in life and I absolutely love the programme.”