Peter Andre taken to court by HMRC after trying to claim tax relief on £90k legal bill fighting ex Katie Price for defamation
Singer's lawyers are arguing the defamation suit should be tax deductible because protecting his reputation was equivalent to protecting his career
PETER ANDRE is being hauled to court by HMRC after he tried to claim tax relief on legal costs racked up battling former wife Katie Price.
The reality star’s lawyers are arguing that the £90,245 bill he amassed fighting his glamour model ex over defamatory remarks she’d made about him should be tax deductible.
His team claim he was protecting his celebrity image and reputation as a good father during the split after Price had bad-mouthed him in the media.
In paperwork following a tribunal discussing the impending court case, Andre’s team insist it is fair he included the court case costs on his 2010/2011 tax return as during the initial trial he was protecting “his relationship with his children and his reputation” and “the appellant and his trade are inseparable”.
But HMRC’s position is that the £90245 should not be considered tax deductible as it claims “that a clear purpose of the legal expenses was to safeguard the appellant’s relationship with his children, which cannot be for any business purpose.
“A second purpose was to protect the appellant’s reputation which cannot ‘necessarily be a wholly business purpose’.
“Furthermore a stated object of the claim to damages is personal in nature and there is no reason why the legal costs should be separated from the damages they were expended to secure.”
HMRC have also rejected tax relief on £15055 spent installing security gates at the Mysterious Girl singer’s home despite his team stating “the gates are necessary to protect him and his family from the attention of the media and the fans”.
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A source close to dad-of-four Peter, who is thought to be worth £11 million, highlighted how the singer was not behind on tax and was willing to accept whatever the final result was.
They added: “He is actually ahead on his tax.”
Andre’s lawyers appealed the HMRC’s decision but attempts for the verdict to be heard in private have been rejected and a date for a final hearing looks set to be made soon.
Last week The Sun on Sunday exclusively revealed how Men Behaving Badly star Martin Clunes had a run-in with the HMRC after he added the cost of a mystery cosmetic treatment to his tax return in a bad to reduce his overall bill.
The 55-year-old argued it was “for the purposes of the acting trade”.