As many of us know, sorting out a tax return can be a blimmin’ nightmare as it’s such hard work, what with declaring what you’ve made and trying to offset it with expenses.
Poor old Martin Clunes appears to have found that out the hard way – and had a very public spat with HMRC – over a mystery cosmetic treatment he had listed on his tax return.
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The millionaire actor, whose sizeable ears and full kissable lips are as famous as his roles in Men Behaving Badly and Doc Martin, didn’t explain what the procedure was for, but added the cost to his return in a bid to reduce his tax bill, explaining it was “for the purposes of the acting trade”.
However, the taxman refused to accept the claim and Martin lost the private hearing last December.
Reps for the BAFTA winning star had tried to keep details of his case private claiming “he might become the target of mockery and jokes”, but the High Court’s tax tribunal chamber refused.
Judge Colin Bishopp expressed “sympathy” for the actor, but said the public must know of his treatment and that the expense in question “was not mundane and unlikely to attract attention”.
Bishopp said Clunes should be named because justice could not be done without referring to his “personal characteristics”.
Of course, critics have lashed out at the actor’s bid to bill the cost of treatment to taxpayers.
“If tax relief is given, it has to be done so equally,” Tory MP Andrew Rosindell raged.
“There has to be a fair system for all. If someone claims tax relief such as this, it should be applied to all walks of life.
“And clearly an ordinary person would not get tax relief in a situation like this.”
If you’re surprised that Clunes’ tax problems have been made public, apparently it can happen when an appeal is made.
“It is very difficult to get anonymity in a tax appeal,” Tax expert Robert Leach explained.
“It is one of the anomalies of the tax system that a taxpayer’s affairs are confidential — until they make an appeal.”