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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Entertainment
Christopher Megrath

Three ITV Loose Women panelists could quit after pay disputes

Three Loose Women stars are set to quit after rows over pay.

The presenters and ITV bosses have been going back and forth for weeks regarding their tax situations. It comes shortly after the broadcaster was hit by changes by HMRC to tax legislation.

ITV will now decide if a role is employed or self-employed for tax purposes from April 2021. It is understood some Loose Women panellists work freelance, declaring themselves self-employed and three are threatening to quit if the situation is not dealt with, the Mirror reported.

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Some have been told to go on a PAYE contract – meaning that instead of corporation tax at 19%, they will have to pay 40% on earnings between £50,271 and £150,000, plus National Insurance.

A source speaking to the Mirror said: "They have all been self-employed for decades. Their accountants are saying no, they are self-employed… and are not going to go on PAYE. They’re so strict about it and we’re talking about the big players."

An ITV spokesperson told The ECHO: "ITV complies with HMRC legislation when assessing the tax status of individuals. ITV will not comment on or disclose any individual's specific circumstances."

Presenter Eamonn Holmes is currently challenging a tribunal ruling that he should have been treated as an ITV employee for tax reasons when he hosted This Morning.

He said in 2018 that HMRC “wanted 10 years of backdated National Insurance” as they said his former jobs “were staff jobs rather than self-employed."

He added: "In 2018, they [HMRC] came knocking at my door, claiming my former jobs at Sky News, GMTV, Channel 5 and This Morning were staff jobs rather than self-employed. They wanted 10 years of backdated National Insurance.

"To go back a decade to try and get the money that you’ve already spent? I don’t care how much you earn, you spend it. It was gone."

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