Rupert Grint to pay £1.8 million fine

Actor Rupert Grint, who is best known for his role as Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter films, has once again lost his tax battle in court. The British tax authority turned its attention to a company in which the actor himself was the sole shareholder.

Now the actor must pay £1.8 million, having lost his battle in court with the UK Revenue and Customs. The actor was supposed to pay this amount back in 2019, after one of his tax returns was made public. But lawyers have appealed, emphasizing that the money received by their client was correctly taxed as capital.

But HMRC said the money should have been taxed as income at a higher rate. And the judge rejected the actor’s arguments.

Recall that in 2011-2012, Rupert Grint received £4.5 million from the company that ran his business. He was the sole shareholder in it. And the payment itself was described as likely residual income and bonuses received for the Harry Potter films. The actor thought he could get by with paying capital gains tax at 10%, rather than income tax and national insurance at 52%.

To be continued…