Kaye Adams‘ court case against HMRC is being reheard over a £124,000 tax dispute that began four years ago, according to reports.
The Loose Women star is having a phase of her career highlighted, when she aired The Kaye Adams Programme on BBC Radio Scotland from 2013 to 2017.
According to HMRC (HM Revenue & Customs), the 60-year-old owes £81,150.60 in income tax and £43,290.98 in national insurance contributions from that time period.
Adams was working as a freelancer through her firm Atholl House Productions Ltd at the time.
While she won her initial case in the dispute in 2019, it was reheard two years later in 2021, and an Upper Tribunal ruled in her favour.
However, after an appeal by HMRC, a Court of Appeal judge ordered that the case be reheard once again in a lower tribunal, MailOnline reported.
When the matter originally came to light four years ago, it’s reported that the emphasis was on the fact that Adams has been a freelance journalist for 20 years and does not work primarily for the BBC.
According to reports, the tribunal is now comparing a hypothetical contract for Adams’ work to the actual contract to decide whether she was hired by the broadcaster or self-employed.
Judge Tony Beare heard the case at Taylor House in central London on Tuesday, October 10.
Keith Gordon represented Adams’ firm, Atholl House Productions Ltd, and the court also heard from Jeff Zycinski, Head of Radio at BBC Scotland from 2005 to 2018, who was present via video connection.
According to Adam Tolley, KC, for HMRC, in court, starting in 2008, following an HMRC review, the BBC began requiring freelance presenters who worked with the broadcaster for long periods of time to be hired through personal services companies, allegedly to reduce the corporation’s tax risk.
Zyncinski stated that he was unaware of a policy since he was not involved in contract talks, and that policies at the BBC were “rolled out in quite a haphazard fashion.”
Adams was claimed to have been paid £155,000 per year to broadcast a minimum of 160 episodes on BBC Radio Scotland.
Despite the fact that Adams is a freelancer, Tolley mentioned how the Loose Women star would come to the BBC at 7 a.m. for a briefing and depart at 1 p.m., in addition to completing her own prep for her radio shows in the evenings.
However, Zycinski argued back: ‘Presenters realise they have a short shelf life so they’ll do as much work as they can when they are young and fit.
‘It’s not unheard of for people in this industry to work much more than what you and me would describe as office hours.’
Zycinski went on to say that as Adams’ position at BBC Radio Scotland extended, he wanted her to work there all year but’realised we couldn’t afford that,’ which is why her £155,000 salary was the most they could offer her.
He added that he knew that Adams was ‘back in favour with ITV and Loose Women’, so ‘expected’ her to do at least one programme a week for the TV show.
According to MailOnline, Zycinski stated that BBC contracts could be flexible depending on the broadcaster’s relationship with the talent, saying: ‘The thing about contracts in the BBC was that the contracts were there in the background and what was more important was the personal relationship with the talent.
‘The BBC knows it’s got to have something written down in case of trouble but there’s no point trying to hold talent to the letter of the contract if that’s going to make them unhappy. There’s the contract and then there’s the reality of the relationship with the on air talent.’
The hearing is set to continue.
