Gary Lineker’s dispute over a £4.9m tax bill has been back in court as HMRC aims to overturn a previous ruling in the Match of the Day presenter’s favour.
The long-running dispute stems back to 2017 when the tax agency alleged Lineker was incorrectly operating outside IR35 across a series of contracts held with the BBC and BT Sport.
IR35 refers to legislation designed to ensure that workers who are essentially employees pay the same income tax and national insurance contributions as direct employees.
The investigation resulted in a £4.9m in tax liability, which HMRC believed comprised over £3.6m in income tax and over £1.3m in national insurance contributions.
Lineker appealed HMRC’s decision to the First Tier Tribunal (FTT), which decided in March 2023 that the IR35 rules shouldn’t apply to Lineker due to the structure of his business.
However, in June of that year, HMRC submitted an application to appeal with the Upper Tribunal, and a hearing was scheduled for 2 and 3 December 2024.
A judgment on this appeal will be reserved.
Commenting on the case, Seb Maley, CEO of IR35 specialist Qdos, stated that “this is arguably one of the biggest cases in the history of the IR35 legislation.”
“Not only does it carry millions in tax liability, but it also involves one of the UK’s highest-profile freelancers – something HMRC has made a habit of doing in recent years,” he added.
This comes after a spell of notable names made headlines earlier this year over IR35 disputes with the tax authority, including BBC presenter Adrian Chiles.
While in September, former Sky Sports rugby commentator Stuart Barnes lost his bid to overturn an appeal over a £700,000 tax bill, linked to IR35.
The latest in Lineker’s case comes after the present’s video production company was put into voluntary liquidation last month.