Adrian Chiles wins seven-year fight over £1.7m tax bill after tribunal rules there was ‘no suggestion’ he tried to avoid paying
- Adrian Chiles, 54, has won a seven-year tax battle with HMRC worth £1.7million
- HMRC argued Chiles was not freelancing when at BBC and ITV from 2012 to 2017
- A tribunal ruled that there was ‘no suggestion’ Chiles set out to avoid paying tax
TV and radio host Adrian Chiles will avoid a £1.7million bill after winning a seven-year legal battle with tax chiefs.
HM Revenue and Customs claimed the former One Show and Match of the Day 2 presenter was not a freelancer when he worked for BBC and ITV between 2012 and 2017, arguing he should have paid more tax as an employee.
But Mr Chiles, 54, had worked as a contractor through his company Basic Broadcasting Limited since 1996.
HMRC alleged he owed £1.2million in income tax and almost £500,000 in national insurance but a tribunal ruled that there was ‘no suggestion he set out to avoid paying tax’.
Adrian Chiles, 54, had worked as a presenting contractor through his company Basic Broadcasting Limited since 1996
Despite winning the case, he will have to pay his legal fees. Contractors typically pay corporation tax at 19 per cent and national insurance at nine per cent.
HMRC, which is also pursuing Match of the Day’s Gary Lineker for almost £5million, said it ‘will carefully analyse the outcome of the tribunal’.
A spokesman for Mr Chiles, who hosts Chiles On Friday on Radio 5 Live, was unavailable for comment.
Mr Chiles worked on BBC programmes such as The One Show, Match of the Day 2 and The Apprentice: You’re Fired during his career.
He also fronted ITV’s football coverage between 2010 and 2015, as well as presenting morning show Daybreak in 2010 and 2011.
He currently hosts Chiles on Friday on BBC Radio 5 Live and has also written a regular column for the Guardian newspaper since 2019.
Mr Chiles has been praised in recent years for opening up about his health, including focusing on his alcohol habits in a 2018 documentary called Drinkers Like Me, which examined the health and social issues of repeated social drinking.
He also revealed in 2020 that he had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, which was being successfully treated with prescription medication.
He confirmed to the Daily Telegraph in 2020 that he was in a relationship with the Guardian’s editor-in-chief Katharine Viner, saying: ‘I’ve got a horror of talking about relationships. I don’t mind saying I’m with Kath.’
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