‘Harry Potter’ star Rupert Grint loses £1M to tax

“Harry Potter” star Rupert Grint has lost £1 million (AU$1.7 million) of his multimillion dollar fortune to the tax man. The 27-year-old British actor is believed to have earned £24 million (AU$41 million) playing Harry Potter’s best friend, Ron Weasley, in the film franchise.

Tax tribunal judge Barbara Mosedal rejected Grint’s appeal against an HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) block on him changing his accounting dates to shield his earnings. The actor, upon the advice of Clay & Associates accounting firm, had changed his accounting date in a bid to avoid the higher 50 percent tax rate from 2009 to 2010.

Grint’s accountants tried to shift his earnings for eight months into the 2009/10 tax year when the top rate was 40 percent. By tax year 2010/11, the top rate of tax was 50 percent. He was advised to move his accounting date from July 31 to April 5 to bring his whole 20 months’ worth of income within the lower tax rate.

While tax authorities agreed that Grint he had the right to change his accounting dates, which would have resulted in 10 percent saving on his income tax, the actor had actually failed to do so. Therefore, the judge agreed with the HMRC, denying Grint a tax rebate of about £1 million.

The “Super Clyde” star’s barrister earlier clarified that the case is not about tax avoidance as Grint paid his taxes promptly. He was just after a refund, which, as Judge Mosedal has ruled, he did not get.

Grint admitted during a hearing for his appeal that he had “quite limited” knowledge about the state of his financial affairs. He has trusted his father Nigel and his accountant Dan Clay to deal with his tax returns.

Grint started his acting career in the “Harry Potter” series at age 12. When the multibillion film franchise wrapped up in 2011, he was 23 years old.

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