Eamonn Holmes faces £250k tax bill as This Morning host loses HMRC case over ITV pay

EAMONN Holmes is facing a £250,000 tax bill after losing a case over how he is paid by ITV.

This Morning host Eamonn told the taxman he was a freelancer and gets his pay through his own limited company.

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But HM Revenue & Customs are cracking down on the practice, which means some people end up paying lower taxes, the reports.

The star has denied duping tax chiefs but he could face a bill for £250,000 after losing a legal case today, according to sources.

A spokesman for Eamonn said he "has always considered himself a self-employed freelancer and has never knowingly avoided paying taxes".

They also said the host was "seeking to comprehend what this means" and wants "clarity and consistency across the guidelines" so others do not "suffer the same confusion" over the rulings.

But HMRC said it welcomes the judgement as its job is to make sure employees pay "employment taxes" even if they were working through their own company.

TAX WAR

Eamonn first became locked in the legal fight with tax chiefs in 2018 when they chased him for unpaid taxes.

At the time, BBC celebs were already targeted by HMRC, which said they are employees and therefore have to pay income tax and national insurance payments.

It is demanding that presenters pay up to 45 per cent tax instead of the 19 per cent corporation tax they now pay.

Eamonn said at the time he was a "test case" for the new campaign Ant and Dec and other ITV stars would be targeted next if he lost.

Last year, fellow ITV star Lorraine Kelly escaped a £1.2million tax bill after a judge said she had too much control over her shows to count as a "servant" of the channel.

But ex-regional BBC presenter Christa Ackroyd was hit with a huge tax bill in 2018 for £420,000.

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Eamonn said previously: "I was in a 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. They could go at any moment."

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