Former Harry Potter star Rupert Grunt has been ordered to pay £1.8m in tax after losing a legal battle with HM Revenue and Customs.
Grunt, who played Ron Weasley in the films, was originally asked to repay the money in 2019 after an HMRC investigation disputed one of his tax returns.
The 36-year-old’s lawyers appealed, saying the money he received from the company was correctly taxed as a capital asset, but HMRC said it should be taxed as income at a higher rate. should have
However, the Tax Tribunal judge rejected Grunt’s argument.
During the 2011-2012 tax year, Grunt received £4.5m from a company that managed his business, and of which he was the sole shareholder.
The payment was described as “potential residual income and bonuses” resulting from the Harry Potter films.
He argued that he could pay capital gains tax at 10% on it instead of income tax and national insurance at a top rate of 52%.
In the judgement, tribunal judge Harriet Morgan rejected Grant’s appeal and said the money was “substantially derived for its full value from Mr Grant’s activities”, which was treated as “otherwise income”. .
He previously lost a separate court case in 2019 involving a £1m tax refund.
Grunt appeared in all eight Harry Potter films from 2001 to 2011.
Since then, he has appeared in the films Into the White and Knock at the Cabin, and has also appeared in TV and theatre.
He has starred in the Apple TV series Servant for the past four years.