Lorraine Kelly has won an appeal against HMRC over a
£1.2m tax bill, after a judge ruled she was not employed by ITV, but
performs as her "chatty" TV persona.
HMRC claimed that she 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".
The BBC reports that the case centres on a contract that Kelly signed in 2012 - through a company she runs with her husband - to present Lorraine, as well as her former show Daybreak which ended in 2014 when Good Morning Britain was relaunched.
Four years later, she was sent a bill of nearly £900,000 in income tax and more than £300,000 in national insurance contributions.
Kelly appealed against tax authority HMRC, and the case was heard by the first-tier tax tribunal.
Judge Jennifer Dean ruled that the relationship that Kelly had with ITV "was a contract for services and not that of employer and employee".
The tribunal found that Kelly did not receive staff benefits such as holiday or sick pay and was allowed to carry out other work.
The judge said that Kelly could be classed as a "theatrical artist", which would mean any payments to an agent would be allowed as a tax-deductible expense.
Judge Dean said:
"We did not accept that Ms Kelly simply appeared as herself - we were satisfied that Ms Kelly presents a persona of herself, she presents herself as a brand and that is the brand ITV sought when engaging her.
All parts of the show are a performance, the act being to perform the role of a friendly, chatty and fun personality.
Quite simply put, the programmes are entertaining, Ms Kelly is entertaining and the 'DNA' referred to is the personality, performance, the 'Lorraine Kelly' brand that is brought to the programmes.
We should make clear we do not doubt that Ms Kelly is an entertaining lady but the point is that for the time Ms Kelly is contracted to perform live on air she is public 'Lorraine Kelly'.
She may not like the guest she interviews, she may not like the food she eats, she may not like the film she viewed but that is where the performance lies."
A spokesman for HMRC said it was "disappointed" with the ruling.
"We will carefully consider the outcome of the tribunal before deciding whether to appeal."Hey Hoh, the show must go on!
This Lorraine Kelly tax case really has holed HMRC's IR35 and CEST test below the waterline. It should sink without trace https://t.co/B5l2nHhFzu
— Paul Lewis (@paullewismoney) March 21, 2019
Tax does have to be taxing.
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A bit late for HMRC filth to take the moral high ground and being 'disappointed'. Dirty rotten scum. What do they do with taxpayers money? Hotel rooms don't come cheap do they. No money for Police, NHS drugs being deprived. Sodom and Gomorrah House will pick up the tab.
ReplyDeleteAt least Eamonn has a precedent to fall back on should they knock on his door again. Will HMRC want this to 'go away' too?
Can’t understand why this hasn’t more comment. Unless I misunderstand something this ruling is bizarre. Doesn’t everyone perform in every job to a certain extent. A teacher for example acts to the class, if they said what they really felt they would be sacked, if not arrested!
ReplyDeleteBo Selecta..."Can yah see mah growler" (Couldn't resist)
ReplyDeleteYes those dirty rotten scum collecting money (40 % goes on pensions and benefits ) whereas you would no doubt pay tax voluntarily in case you needed the police or the NHS ! Not much comment because the case was so badly reported , ie was it about her deducting agents costs as self employed or avoiding tax via a service company, no mention of HMRC arguments -if she is self employed she can presumably dictate her own hours, nominate a replacement etc -the point on holiday pay and sick pay was a red herring , ITV wished to avoid employers NI anyway no mention of the previous case where a Look North presenter lost , just another case of a multimillionaire keeping even more money whilst the grunts get milked on Schedule D.
ReplyDeleteWell here is something else to be "disappointed" about, and it's going to blow up underneath the hopeless Mel Stride
ReplyDeletehttp://www.loanchargeappg.co.uk/news/appg-demand-retraction-and-apology-from-the-treasury-over-false-claim-in-whitewash-report/