BBC Breakfast star Charlie Stayt and his wife AVOID bankruptcy after agreeing to pay off £190,000 tax bill

BBC Breakfast star Charlie Stayt and his wife have avoided bankruptcy after agreeing to pay off a tax bill of around £190,000.

A judge said in a hearing today that Mr Stayt and his wife Anne had owed '£191,000-odd' to HM Revenue & Customs, with around '£32,000-odd' still to be paid.

HMRC filed a bankruptcy petition against the couple, but asked for it to be withdrawn at the hearing at the specialist Insolvency and Companies Court in London.

Solicitor Anam Rezvi said: 'HMRC would like to seek permission to withdraw today, as the balance has now been reduced and the remaining balance has agreed to be paid by the debtors.'

Insolvency and Companies Court Judge Sebastian Prentis agreed to the petition being withdrawn at the end of the short hearing which Mr and Mrs Stayt did not attend.

It is reported that Stayt came into conflict with HMRC over his company Stayt Limited, of which he and his wife Annie are listed as directors alongside Hogbens Dunphy Secretaries, an accountants and tax consultants based in central London.

The firm, which describes itself as being involved in 'television programming and broadcasting activities', was £6,409 in the red according to accounts filed last December.

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Mr and Mrs Stayt bought a home in Twickenham in 2002 for £800,000. It has now sky-rocketed in value to as much as £2.3million.

They have been together for more than 20 years and have two children, Pheobe and Jake, who are both grown up. It is believed that they still live at home with their parents, Hello! reported.

Mr Stayt is one of a number of high-profile TV presenters whose idyllic life was threatened after being chased by HMRC over millions of pounds.

Other hosts were targeted by the government department over accusations they had not paid enough tax.

Among those in the firing line were Lorraine Kelly, Gary Lineker and Eammon Holmes, who were alleged to have underpaid by millions.

Kelly and Lineker ended up winning their feuds with HMRC, although Holmes was defeated and forced to sell his home to pay.

Lorraine Kelly was cleared of liability for a £1.2million tax bill after a judge described her as an 'entertaining lady'.

The Scottish TV host was presented with an income tax bill for almost £900,000, plus national insurance contributions of over £300,000, in 2016.

Kelly, 59, told Judge Dean she was 'baffled' by HMRC's attitude and denied that tax and national insurance should have been deducted from her income under the PAYE system.

She said she had been 'freelance' since 1992 and had since then worked for the BBC, Channel 4, Scottish TV, Sky and ITV, also writing weekly columns for the Sun newspaper.

Overturning the tax bills, the judge concluded: 'The relationship between Ms Kelly and ITV was a contract for services and not that of employer and employee.'

Judge Dean also ruled that Kelly was a 'theatrical entertainer'.

Match of the Day host Lineker was chased by the tax authorities for £4.9million it claimed should have been paid on income received between 2013 and 2018.

The taxman claimed that Lineker should have been classed as an employee of the BBC and BT Sport for his presenting duties, rather than as a freelancer.

A tax judge came down on his side in court, ruling that while Gary Lineker Media (GLM), which he set up with his then wife in 2012, was a partnership to which IR35 legislation applies, the appeal was still dismissed in full because contracts existed.

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HMRC did succeed in their case against Eamonn Holmes, however, after it claimed he owed £250,000 in unpaid levies.

The This Morning host was forced to sell his beloved house in east Belfast to pay off his enormous tax bill after officials ruled he was a staff member for broadcasters rather than a freelancer.

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The 64-year-old said that the stress of the row caused a severe bout of shingles which could have left him blind.

The TV star said: 'I was like a lamb to the slaughter – it was the most stressful, humiliating experience.'

Tax experts told MailOnline that HMRC has 'made a point' of 'aggressively pursuing' high-profile presenters in recent years, possibly to 'send a clear message' to others.

Seb Maley, CEO of IR35 compliance specialist at Qdos, told MailOnline: 'HMRC has made a point in recent years to pursue high profile presenters for eye-watering amounts of tax.

'One train of thought is that HMRC's often aggressive pursuit of those in the public eye will send a clear message to others about the importance of compliance. That said, it would be a fairly cynical tactic.

'As it stands, it's unclear what Charlie Stayt's tax bill relates to. Although, it's worth pointing out that he's been an employee of the BBC for a number of years – so it seems unlikely that it relates to IR35.'

He added: 'Regardless, his battle with HMRC certainly follows a trend of presenters' tax affairs being scrutinised by the tax office.'

It comes as the government cracks down on tax avoidance using legislation known as IR35 which uses so-called 'disguised employees', who charge for their services via limited companies.

The rules see all contractors that do not meet HMRC's definition of self-employment taxed at a similar rate to normal employees.

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