BBC stars could face call from taxman after test case

Actor Robert Glenister told to hand over £147,000 in ruling that could hit others paid through a company

‘Employment status is never a matter of choice and is always dictated by the specific facts’

BBC stars are facing giant tax bills after Hustle actor Robert Glenister lost a landmark tax “loophole” case. The 57-year-old actor, who played con man Ash Morgan in the hit show, has been told he must hand over £147,547 in backdated National Insurance contributions.

The ruling is the latest stage in a tribunal fight with the taxman, which is looking into individuals who claim to be self-employed or sell their services through a company with growing scrutiny.

These arrangements are taxed more lightly than traditional “employer-employee” relationships. For 10 years from 2004, Glenister’s BBC earnings were paid to his Big Bad Wolff company, meaning he paid tax at 20 per cent instead of 45 per cent.

Back in 2017, a judge ruled against Big Bad Wolff after a tribunal hearing, and the company has now lost an appeal. The court ruled that Glenister should have been paid as a full-time employee rather than as a freelance service provider.

According to court documents at the First Tier Tax Tribunal, Glenister’s ruling is being viewed as a “test case”.

It means the decision is expected to have wide-reaching consequences for other highly paid actors. The court heard that there were “a number of other appeals, particularly concerning members of the acting profession, awaiting the outcome of this case”.

In July, the BBC named 96 stars who earn more than £150,000, of which as many as 66 have their salaries routed through personal firms.

An HMRC spokesman said: “We are pleased that the tribunal agreed with our view. Employment status is never a matter of choice and is always dictated by the specific facts.

“We welcome the judgment that Big Bad Wolff Limited was within the intermediary rules… when the wrong tax is being paid we put things right.”

It comes after Lorraine Kelly, the ITV presenter, won her claim over a £1.2million tax bill, after a judge ruled that she was not personally employed by the channel, but instead sold herself to them, performing in a “chatty” persona.

Kelly, 59, who presents the show Lorraine on weekday mornings, received the national insurance and income tax bill from the tax office in 2016.

HMRC claimed the Scottish broadcaster was an ITV employee, but she said she was a freelancer. The judge ruled in Kelly’s favour that she was a “self-employed star”.