Coronation Street icon Bill Roache is to be taken to court next month for unpaid tax as he battles against declaring bankruptcy.
Roache, 91, is believed to owe over £550k in tax that had meant to be paid over several years. The last available date that the Ken Barlow actor could have made a payment fell last month – but Roache was reportedly unable to pay a penny.
As a result, Bill is now expected to be taken to the High Court to recuperate the loss, as he desperately tries not to declare bankruptcy. This, however, is not the first time that he has been unable to pay his tax back.
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In 2018, he was facing the same issue as he owed nearly £590k to the taxman but had not paid it back in full. However, that year he entered into an agreement to pay his debts back – though it was later claimed that so far, he has only made a payment of £41,666.
(Image: MDM)
Included in the total bill that Bill needs to foot are late payments of over £8,000, alongside £14,000 on interest that has accrued over the years. He will now be appearing in the High Court next month.
Following a petition that was filed at the High Court by HMRC, should Bill be unable to pay the money back, he will be forced to sell his assets in order to make up the loss. In total, HMRC is looking to claim back £546,348.53 worth of unpaid debt.
In the petition that HMRC brought to the court, they said: “The debtor is justly and truly indebted to us in the aggregate sum of £546,348.53 being the sum of £588,015.18. This is claimed in a statutory demand, less the sum of £41,666.65 paid since the date of issue of the said demand.”
(Image: PA)
Bill’s current tax woes began in 2012, when he became a “designated member” of a company called TwoFold Services, based in the Cayman Islands. The business ran from a flawed system of claiming tax relief from artificial losses, but was eventually busted in 2018 after a tribunal found it was done to avoid paying tax.
However, Roache has had a close brush with bankruptcy before, as in 1991 he was forced to pay back £120k in legal costs against The Sun. Taking the newspaper to court for libel, Bill successfully won £50,000 in damages but still had to foot the bill for the costs of legal representation.
Bill Roache has been the longest-serving actor to appear on the legendary ITV soap, starring in the show from its first episode in 1960. Since then, he has had a number of stints away from the show, particularly during the 2010s when he was accused of sexual assault.
In December 2023, Bill announced he would be continuing his contract with the channel, signing on for another twelve months. One year previously, his contract was valued to be worth a whopping £250,000.
Bill has yet to offer a statement in regard to the incident. A spokesperson for Coronation Street said producers were “really sorry to hear of Bill’s financial situation and he remains a much-loved member of the cast”.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
