Top ITV stars set to lose a fortune in tax crackdown with some paying twice as much

TOP ITV stars face losing a small fortune in an HMRC crackdown, The Sun on Sunday can reveal.

Bosses have been told to treat them as staff on PAYE instead of paying them via service companies — potentially doubling tax bills.

It means instead of corporation tax at 19 per cent, they will pay 40 per cent on earnings between £50,271 and £150,000 plus National Insurance.

The “IR35” rule also means employers would have to pay backdated tax rather than the employees.

A source said: “It’s caused chaos at ITV and meant a total overhaul of the stars’ payment system.”

Tax expert Dave Chaplin said ITV is keen to move its stars to PAYE so HMRC does not challenge its existing pay arrangements, exposing it to having to pay back-dated tax bills.

Big broadcasting names Gary Lineker and Adrian Chiles have previously been told by the taxman to go on PAYE.

And Anne Robinson quit as host of Channel 4’s Countdown last week when the show’s makers Lifted Entertainment — part of ITV Studios — said she must go PAYE.

It offered her a pay increase to offset her tax loss but she “wasn’t interested in any offer on that basis”.

ITV said IR35 means that it — rather than an individual or their personal service company — has responsibility for assessing if a role is employed or self-employed for tax purposes.

It added: “ITV updated its contracting policy and communicated the change to all those concerned.

“Our assessments are done on a case-by-case basis.”