Coronation Street star Bill Roache now faces being left bankrupt after HMRC launched a petition against the actor.
The 91-year-old actor who has been a firm member of the cobbles-clan since 1960, is still believed to be the highest-paid cast member on the ITV soap, taking home around £250,000 a year. Despite this, it would appear that he has still found himself in financial bother.
HMRC was not prepared to comment on any specific or individual case but did confirm that they will only “petition for bankruptcy as a final resort.”
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A spokesperson for the HMRC told The Mirror: “We take a supportive approach to dealing with customers who have tax debts, and do everything we can to help those who engage with us to get out of debt, such as offering instalment plans.
(Image: ITV)
“We only petition for bankruptcy as a last resort.” A Coronation Street representative also told the same publication: “We’re really sorry to hear of Bill’s financial situation. Bill has an ongoing contract with Coronation Street and remains a much-loved member of the cast.” Daily Star has contacted reps for Bill Roache for comment.
It isn’t the first time that Bill’s financial matters have surfaced with the actor landing himself with a huge bill after he’d invested in £500million Cayman Island tax avoidance scheme. It was never established how much money Bill had stumped up, but on average investors were reported to have chipped in £1.75million.
(Image: ITV)
Bill was one of 288 investors to back the Twofold First Services LLP scheme. At the time, The Mirror had witnessed documents which linked the Corrie star to the business as an investor back in March 2012.
At the time, HMRC put forward a successful claim to the courts that the company had been claiming tax relief from “artificial” losses of a land-owning business. A tribunal later ruled in favour of HMRC, with the treasury branding Twofold as “abusive and artificial”.
(Image: mirrorpix)
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Bill was declared bankrupt 24 years ago taking a lawsuit out against a newspaper that had branded him as being “boring”. Bill’s case was successful and he was awarded £50,000 in damages.
While he had won his case, it wasn’t enough to fund his legal costs after he’d previously turned down £50,000 in an out-of-court settlement. The TV legend was left with overheads of £120,000 and was later declared bankrupt in 1999.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
