I’m a Celebrity, am I taxed out here?

Robert Salter, Director said:

The most recent series of ‘I’m a Celebrity, get me Out of Here’ has reached its finale and the top stars appearing on the show are rumoured to earn up to £1.5m. Which brings the question of how much tax HMRC will receive from these celebrities. Unfortunately for them, the answer is very little.

While the celebrities are all innately taxable in the UK on their worldwide earnings, the fact that this year’s show is being filmed in Australia rather than in Wales, where the show was recorded during the ‘covid years’ is bad news for HMRC.

When the show was in Wales, HMRC was able to receive all the tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs) which were due on the stars’ appearance fees. This meant that with the highest earning stars, HMRC could actually receive up to 47% of their fee income (45% income tax and 2% NICs).

However, with the show being filmed in Australia, the initial taxing rights on the appearance money sits there, where the highest earners from the show will be liable to a marginal tax rate of 45% on their appearance fees.

These Australian taxes can then be claimed as a ‘Tax Credit’ against the stars’ UK tax liabilities, and this may mean in some cases that the individuals will have no additional UK income tax to pay on this income when they file their UK tax returns.

While some may see this as unfair and inequitable, the reality is that the international tax system is designed to try and ensure that workers, including television stars, aren’t innately liable to double taxation on their income.

Would you like to know more?

If you would like to discuss any of the above, please speak to your usual Blick Rothenberg contact or Robert Salter using the form below.