When it comes to the rich and famous, their finances don’t always add up
WORDS: ARIANA LONGSON. PHOTOS: KEN MCKAY/ITV/SHUTTERSTOCK, ALAMY, GETTY, DAVID FISHER/SHUTTERSTOCK
TAKE THAT’S GARY BARLOW, HOWARD DONALD & MARK OWEN
Take That stars Gary, Howard and Mark landed in hot water in 2014 when they found themselves at the forefront of a tax-avoidance scandal. Gary, 53, and co invested in music-industry investment schemes with Icebreaker Management, which allowed them to offset losses against other taxable income. As the lead singer, Gary took most of the heat, with many calling for him to be stripped of his OBE. Addressing the claims, Gary – whose OBE remains intact – said, ‘I want to apologise to anyone who was offended by the tax stories… with a new team of accountants, we are working to settle things with all parties involved ASAP.’ In 2016, Gary, Howard and Mark were ordered to pay over £20 million to HMRC. Still, with Gary alone having a net worth of £90 million, we’re sure it didn’t dent their wallets too much.
VERDICT Defeat
LORRAINE KELLY
In 2019, daytime TV veteran Lorraine, 64, won a £1.2 million tax battle with HM Revenue & Customs. Unlike in Eamonn’s case (see right), the judge ruled that Lorraine was right to be classed as a freelancer, not an ITV employee. However, the judge’s comments that the star’s ‘persona’ on her ITV show is ‘a performance’ raised eyebrows. But it’s this technicality that prevented her paying the bill. Lorraine said, ‘I don’t want people to think I would do anything to get out of paying what I should be paying.’ As for being dubbed an actor, she added, ‘It was, sadly, a bit of a misinterpretation but I knew what [the judge] meant... it’s given people great hilarity and I can live with that.’
VERDICT Victory
EAMONN HOLMES
TV presenter Eamonn has been forced to sell his Belfast house in order to settle a huge tax bill after a long-running dispute with HMRC. In 2020, a tribunal ruled that the 64-year-old was employed by ITV while hosting This Morning, rather than working as a freelancer, like he claimed. Following two failed appeals, which set the GB News star back ‘hundreds of thousands of pounds’ in legal bills, Eamonn was recently ordered to pay £250,000 back to cover a decade’s worth of
