Loose Women star Kaye Adams ‘utterly horrified’ following 10-year court battle: ‘They have the power to ruin lives’

Loose Women star Kaye Adams expressed her horror earlier this year at the “behaviour” of HMRC following a long court battle.

Back in January, ITV host Kaye won a dispute over an alleged tax bill that took 10 years to resolve.

It was argued she was self-employed when hosting The Kaye Adams Programme on BBC Radio Scotland between 2013 and 2017.

But HMRC argued Kaye was an employee and owed thousands in unpaid taxes. However, freelancer Kaye won three cases against HMRC.

Loose Women host Kaye Adams beats the taxman

According to a MailOnline report at the time, HMRC decided not to appeal Kaye’s court victory. The department reportedly believed it would not be ‘proportionate’ to contest the decision again.

Legislation introduced in 2000 known as IR35 was designed to clamp down on tax avoidance by ‘disguised employees’.

It is meant to make it harder for contractors working practically as employees to pay less tax.

In regards to Kaye, HMRC officials had claimed that she was an employee and owed thousands in unpaid taxes.

But Kaye appealed to the First Tier Tax Tribunal. She won her first case in April 2019. Three more hearings followed, with a court ruling in November 2023 she was a freelance worker.

An HMRC spokesperson reportedly told MailOnline: “Given this litigation has been ongoing for a number of years and the First Tier Tribunal does not set binding legal precedents, we don’t think it would be proportionate to appeal in this case.

“We always seek to resolve disputes out of court first and only take action to litigate where this isn’t possible.”

‘I remain utterly horrified at the behaviour of this department’ (Credit: YouTube)

Kaye’s statement

Meanwhile, in a statement to freelancers’ website Contract Calculator, Kaye said the case had cost her nearly £300,000 in legal fees.

She slammed HMRC: “Whilst I am extremely pleased that HMRC has decided not to roll the dice on a fifth time lucky shot on my case, I remain utterly horrified at the behaviour of this department.

“The statement they released to the press, without my knowledge, 20 minutes after informing me of their decision, says they don’t think it would be ‘proportionate’ to appeal in this case.

“It was never proportionate.”

Costs

Furthermore, Kaye – who appears on James Martin’s Saturday Morning this weekend (August 10) – continued: “By the end of my first hearing five years ago, I had burned through more money in legal fees than the tax in dispute.

“Where was HMRC’s concern over proportionality when they appealed to Upper Tribunal and then appealed again to the Court of Appeal and then again hauled me over the coals in the First Tier Tribunal for a second time?” she asked.

‘Justice eh!’

“Not once did they score a victory over me, yet they kept going. And now they have the audacity to suggest, my case does not set legal binding precedent. It is outrageous.

“HMRC knows IR35 is a mess. It knows it has been playing fast and loose with taxpayers’ money to push through an interpretation of the law that it has frankly invented and it seems these faceless bureaucrats are accountable to no one.

“They have the power to ruin good, honest hard-working people’s lives with no consequences.

“It is not just lives they are trashing, HMRC is making a mockery of the legislation. Self-employed status is now determined according to the pressure applied by HMRC and risk management on the part of media companies, not according to the law.

This is a pyrrhic victory for me.

“This is a pyrrhic victory for me. I have won my case against HMRC and I have spent on legal fees nearly £300,000, which should have been in my pension. Justice eh!”