EX-BBC presenter Christa Ackroyd has lost an appeal against a £420,000 tax bill after arguing her earnings were taxed on a freelance basis.
Christa Ackroyd, who presented Look North in Yorkshire between 2001 and 2013, was found to be a BBC employee rather than a freelance contractor.
The ruling means Ms Ackroyd will now have to pay income tax and National Insurance contributions on her earnings while at the BBC between 2001 and 2013.
She was one of a number of people employed by the BBC via personal service companies.
The case related to the tax years 2006/07 to 2012/13, while she worked for the broadcaster under a personal service company, Christa Ackroyd Media (CAM).
Judges sitting in the Upper Tribunal in London ruled in favour of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) who had brought the claim.
An HMRC spokesperson said: “HMRC welcomes the judgement that the presenter is within the intermediary rules.
“Employment status is never a matter of choice; it is always dictated by the facts and when the wrong tax is being paid we put things right
“It is right that an individual who works through a company, but would have been an employee if they were taken on directly, pays broadly the same amount of tax and National Insurance contributions as employees.”
In the original ruling in February 2018, the tax tribunal said HMRC had “never suggested” she was a tax cheat or had acted dishonestly and accepted her evidence “that it was the BBC who suggested that Ms Ackroyd should work using a personal service company”.
But HMRC warned that as an employee of Christa Ackroyd Media Ltd, the company was still liable for income tax and national insurance payments while Ms Ackroyd claimed she was a self-employed contractor and CAM had no further liability.
When asked to clarify whether the BBC had invited the journalist to work under a company, the broadcaster could only reveal that it is looking into the judge’s decision.
A BBC spokesperson said: “The BBC was not party to this case but we’re reviewing the details of the judgement.”
According to Economia, Ackroyd is not the only television presenter who was paid by the BBC through personal service companies, many of whom are still being pursued by HMRC under the IR35 rules.
HMRC said it has won the majority of tribunal decisions involving television presenters.
But, this year, it lost a number of high profile cases, including a £1.2m appeal brought by Lorraine Kelly in March, and an £124,000 appeal by Loose Women presenter Kaye Adams a month later.
