Eamonn Holmes to challenge £250,000 IR35 ruling

Eamonn Holmes to challenge £250,000 IR35 ruling

TV presenter Eamonn Holmes takes HMRC to court to appeal IR35 ruling 

Eamonn Holmes, who hosts ITV’s This Morning with his wife Ruth Langsford, has filed an official court listing and is fighting the taxman at an Upper Tier Tribunal over a £250,000 IR35 ruling. 

Earlier this year, Holmes lost his battle against HMRC over his IR35 status with the broadcaster.

The 60-year-old presenter argued that he has always been a “self-employed freelancer”, who received payments from ITV through his limited company, ‘Red, White and Green Limited’ and has “never knowingly avoided paying taxes”.

Claims of Control were dismissed by judge

He said during the First Tier Tribunal hearing that he has considerable Control over his work on the programme.

However, at the time, tribunal Judge Harriet Morgan dismissed his claims. She concluded there was sufficient Mutuality of Obligation (MOO) and a “framework of control” in place that “assumed relationships between him [Holmes] and ITV were ones of employment”.

The high-profile TV and radio personality will appeal this decision at the Upper Tier Tribunal next year.

If Holmes is found to be inside IR35, he will be left to pay a reported £250,000 tax bill as a result of incorrectly working outside the scope of the legislation. 

Holmes has previously said that he believes his case is a test case and if he loses, other ITV presenters such Ant and Dec could be targeted by HMRC.

‘Nobody more freelance than me’

He told The Sun: “There is nobody more freelance than me but they are trying to prove our jobs are regular and guaranteed. Yet they could go at any moment.”

Seb Maley, CEO at contractor insurance company Qdos, said: “Mutuality of Obligation and Control played an important part in Holmes being determined as inside IR35. This is despite him arguing he had substantial autonomy over his work for the broadcaster. 

“This case will certainly be one to keep an eye on. With the clock ticking towards IR35 reform in the private sector, the last thing HMRC wants is a high-profile loss.”

Contractor Weekly did approach HMRC for a comment, but they said they do not comment on individual cases.

4 Comments

  • Iftikhar says:

    Well, if young Holmes is within IR35… then God help the IT contractors!

    With most of these borderline contracts there is an element of control and also risk so the tax and national insurance contributions should reflect that.

  • Jamie Ford says:

    I am a fan of Qdos and have been with them for many years (their now CEO was my contact at QDos). However, I have been offered a better value package of Insurances via Kingsbridge which covers all/most of what Qdos’ TLC35 does plus a few other items that Qdos charge extra for AND allows the IR35 cover to be transferred to the feepayer post Offpayrol i.e can be used to convince agency we are outside ir35, as assessed by a 3rd party who puts their money where their mouth is and will cover any fees/fines i.e give agent low risk option. I am told Qdos tlc35 will not be extended to do the same which seems a shame. What are CW thoughts/knowledge on this?

  • Sad day says:

    Good luck to him

    HMRC have very deep pockets and they will spend a fortune to go after easy pickings rather than deal with the big companies.

  • JoJo San says:

    Low hanging fruit is what they do because they can

    Going after the big boys is not really what fascism is all about

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