Hustle’s Robert Glenister accuses the taxman of behaving like a ‘secret police force’ over £147,000 bill
- Robert Glenister, 59, accused the taxman of behaving like a ‘secret police force’
- The actor lost a nine-year battle over unpaid National Insurance contributions
- Star says he is left with two options, to remortgage or sell his house
Hustle star Robert Glenister, 59
Hustle star Robert Glenister has accused the taxman of behaving like a ‘secret police force’ after losing a nine-year battle over unpaid National Insurance contributions.
Speaking for the first time since learning that he owes HMRC £147,000 plus interest, he told The Mail on Sunday: ‘We have had the judgment now so… I am going to get a brown envelope fairly soon.
‘I have got two options – either I sell my house or I remortgage my house. I don’t want to sell it because I am 60 next year and the only other alternative is to have a significant mortgage hanging around my neck until I am well into my 70s.’
Glenister, whose brother Philip played Gene Hunt in the TV hits Life On Mars and Ashes To Ashes, last week lost his appeal against a ruling by a tax tribunal. It was a decision that could have significant consequences for other performers. The dispute centred on the actor’s decision in 2004 to set up Big Bad Wolff Ltd, a personal service company (PSC) that charged for his work as a performer.
Being paid through a PSC, rather than as a member of staff on the payroll, has typically enabled celebrities and other contractors who regularly work for just one employer to pay lower rates of tax and National Insurance.
Some employers have favoured this approach because it can also reduce the company’s national insurance bills, but HMRC has become stricter on what it calls ‘disguised employment’.
Robert Glenister as Ash and Kelly Adams as Emma in Hustle, BBC One
Glenister says he set up the company in good faith and thinks it is unfair to back-date payments to 2004 when HMRC did not contact him until 2010. ‘This isn’t a tax avoidance issue,’ he said. ‘It’s a compliance issue. I was advised to set up the company by my then accountant.’
Glenister, who is being supported by actors’ union Equity, said one actor friend committed suicide after being declared bankrupt when the taxman took him to court.
‘He left rehearsals one day, didn’t show up the next day and then threw himself off a cliff.
‘If HMRC is going to behave like the Stasi then it really has to check the state of people’s mental health,’ he added, referring to the feared secret police in the former East Germany.
He says HMRC has refused to meet to discuss his case. ‘It acts like an anonymous secret police force… They treat you like a criminal. I don’t think you can do that in a civilised society.’
Glenister, who collapsed on stage in 2017, has been prescribed anti-depressants and medication for high blood pressure and is worried about his career. ‘I have never, ever been fearful before [but]… it’s been quite frightening walking out on stage because you don’t know if it’s going to happen again,’ he said.
The HMRC said it did not comment on individual cases, but added: ‘We know debt can be stressful which is why we always take individual circumstances into account and are committed to providing meaningful advice and support.’
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