Britain’s broke so they are coming to get me... Ant and Dec will be next
As TVstar Eamonn Holmes reveals tax probe that could cost him millions he says...
ITV’s biggest stars could face bills running into millions after the taxman launched a ‘ test case’ against Eamonn Holmes.
The This Morning host revealed he is in the middle of a legal battle with HMRC, which claims he owes them tax stretching back seven years. Experts estimate he could face a bill of up to £2 million.
Officials are challenging the fact that the presenter receives a freelance salary from ITV through his own limited company, which means he pays less tax.
BBC celebrities whose salaries are paid in the same way have already been targeted by HMRC, which insists they are employees.
It is demanding the stars pay income tax at up to 45 per cent instead of corporation tax at 19 per cent.
Now, says Holmes, it’s the turn of ITV’s big names.
‘I am the test case,’ he told The Mail on Sunday. ‘If they win against me they will go after everyone else, everyone. Ant and Dec will be next.
‘They can come after seven years of the difference [between tax paid and what is owed].’ Presenters whose freelance status is successfully challenged would face at least a doubling of their tax bill, plus interest, National Insurance payments and possibly penalties, tax experts said last night.
Holmes’s c o mpany, Red White and Green Ltd, had just under £ 3.1 million i n cash, according to its latest accounts, dated April last year.
‘ The country is broke and they are coming to get us,’ he said. ‘I was in 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. But they could go at any moment.’
The 58-year-old revealed he has been waiting 17 weeks to hear the result of the ruling in his case. ‘It has cost me a lot of money to fight it and trust me, in that court room there were a lot of them against me.’ Holmes is estimated to earn at least £700,000 a year from his TV work, which does not include the income of his copresenter wife, Ruth Langsford, who is a co-director with him of Holmes and Away Ltd. It is not known on what basis Ms Langsford, also 58, is paid.
Other ITV stars are directors of their own limited companies, including Ant and Dec, Phillip Schofield, Holly Willoughby and Lorraine Kelly.
However, the exact arrangements through which each is paid by ITV are not known.
Tax authorities say that under rule ‘IR35’, presenters should not be able to hide behind a ‘corporate veil’ and must be classed as employees.
An HMRC spokesman told The Mail on Sunday last night: ‘It is clear that most TV presenters will fall into the category of being employees based on the nature of their work, and the policy that sets this out has been the same for years.
‘HMRC has a responsibility to ensure everyone pays the right amount of tax at the right time.’
A leading tax expert said that the tax authorities were pursuing an ‘ aggressive strategy’ against certain workers including those in the media and doctors with private practices. A spokesman for ITV said last night: ‘ ITV manages its UK operations in compliance with the tax laws of the UK.
‘ When ITV engages a presenter through a personal service company that company is entirely responsible for any income tax and national insurance liabilities.’