Lorraine Kelly has won a £1.2 million tax battle with HMRC, after a tribunal judge ruled she does not appear as herself on breakfast TV.
While we all know the Scottish star as the friendly face who helps wake us up with her beaming smile and chatty presenting style, Judge Jennifer Dean claimed Lorraine can be described as a “theatrical artist”, as she “presents herself as a brand”.
Lorraine was handed a bill made up of almost £900,000 in income tax and more than £300,000 in national insurance contributions in 2016, but the judge’s description of the role she plays means that payments to an agent were allowed as a tax-deductible expense.
From 2012, Lorraine was contracted to present Good Morning Britain predecessor Daybreak and her Lorraine show through the company she runs with her husband, but HMRC argued she was effectively an employee of ITV.
Siding with Lorraine, the judge also concluded the relationship between her and ITV “was a contract for services and not that of employer and employee”, and should be treated as a “self-employed star”.
In her ruling, the judge said: “We did not accept that Ms Kelly simply appeared as herself – we were satisfied that Ms Kelly presents a persona of herself, she presents herself as a brand and that is the brand ITV sought when engaging her.
“All parts of the show are a performance, the act being to perform the role of a friendly, chatty and fun personality.
“Quite simply put, the programmes are entertaining, Ms Kelly is entertaining and the ‘DNA’ referred to is the personality, performance, the ‘Lorraine Kelly’ brand that is brought to the programmes.”
She added: “We should make clear we do not doubt that Ms Kelly is an entertaining lady but the point is that for the time Ms Kelly is contracted to perform live on air she is public ‘Lorraine Kelly’.
“She may not like the guest she interviews, she may not like the food she eats, she may not like the film she viewed but that is where the performance lies.”
The revelation Lorraine is playing the part of ‘Lorraine Kelly’ on our screens every morning had a lot of her fans completely baffled...
Meanwhile, a HMRC spokesman said they were “disappointed” with the ruling, adding: “We will carefully consider the outcome of the tribunal before deciding whether to appeal.”
