Former Harry Potter star Rupert Grint has been ordered to pay £1.8million in tax.
The Ron Weasley actor lost a legal battle with HM Revenue and Customs in 2019 and was ordered to pay the sum following an investigation into his tax return for the 2011-12 tax year.
Squeak had received a sum of £4.5 million from a company which managed his business affairs in “consideration for the rights, records and goodwill” of his work, which he claimed was a “capital asset » and therefore subject to capital gains tax.
But HMRC argued the fees should have been counted as income and, after the investigation, Mr Grint was told he had to pay a further £1,801,060 in tax.
Mr Grint’s lawyers appealed HMRC’s decision at a hearing at London Magistrates’ Court in November and December 2022.
They argued that the proper amount of tax had been paid.
But in a court ruling, Justice Harriet Morgan dismissed the appeal.
She found that the sum “is taxable as income” and said the money “derived substantially all of its value from Mr Grint’s activities”, which had been “otherwise realized” as income in during the 2011/12 financial year.
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Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint. Photo: Christophel Collection/Warner Bros/Alamy
Grint was 12 when he starred in 2001’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
It is estimated that he earned around £24 million for playing Ron Weasley.
Grint lost a separate court battle over a £1 million tax refund in 2019.