They got paid a fortune for appearing in the jungle – but I’m A Celeb’s stars will have to leave a big chunk of that in Australia…
I’m A Celeb’s biggest stars are flying home – but a hefty chunk of their pay packets will be staying Down Under. The show had some highly-paid stars this year, with Ruby Wax, Shona McGarty, Angry Ginge and Alex Scott thought to be making around £100,000 with Jack Osbourne on even more at £200,000 and Aitch reportedly the top earner with £250,000.
Now, the good news is that they are all set to cash in mightily on the sort of exposure that being on ITV every night can deliver. But the bad news is the Australian tax man is coming for a their cash piles like Kelly Brook eying up a bag of milk-bottle sweets. The top Aussie tax rate is 45% – and non-residents like our campmates are taxed from the very first dollar.
That means that the Australian government will make large sums out of rapper Aitch and co over the three weeks that I’m A Celeb is on air – unlike when it was filmed in Wales during Covid, when the UK’s own HMRC were able to hoover up the tax and National Insurance contributions.
Former I’m A Celeb star Michael Buerk once explained how much of his salary got snaffled by the Australian tax office after his appearance in 2014, saying the hefty fee that attracted him to the job in the first place ended up getting sliced by almost half: He said: “I was offered I’m A Celebrity a few times and I didn’t want to do it.
“But when the money they were offering got really high, I decided to do it. But they neglect to point out that the Australian taxman takes nearly 50 percent of it straight off the top, which takes some of the cream off.”
Taxes are likely to be lower if celebs’ fees are paid to a company and of course the lesser-paid stars won’t be hit as hard. Up to $135,000 (about £65,000) non-residents in Australia pay 30% on their taxable incomes and 37% after that. Those making more than $190,000 (about £95,000) pay 45% for their earnings above that level.
To use Aitch’s reported fee of £250,000 – which works out at just over 500,000 Aussie dollars – that means $40,500 tax due on the lower amount, $20,350 on the middle and $139,500 on the top, a total of just shy of £100,000 in British currency.
Stars in previous years will have had to hand over more. Coleen Rooney, who appeared on the show last year, had a mega pay packet thought to total £1.5million – and a large tax bill to boot. Nigel Farage, Harry Redknapp and Noel Edmonds also picked up hefty sums.
However, the better news for the stars – who will be well-used to large tax bills whenever they take on highly-paid projects elsewhere – are unlikely to be clobbered by the taxman again back home in the UK.
Tax expert Robert Salter summarised the situation neatly, explaining: “When the show was in Wales, HMRC was able to receive all the tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs) which were due on the stars’ appearance fees. This meant that with the highest earning stars, HMRC could actually receive up to 47% of their fee income (45% income tax and 2% NICs).
“However, with the show being filmed in Australia, the initial taxing rights on the appearance money sits there, where the highest earners from the show will be liable to a marginal tax rate of 45% on their appearance fees. These Australian taxes can then be claimed as a ‘tax credit’ against the stars’ UK tax liabilities, and this may mean in some cases that the individuals will have no additional UK income tax to pay on this income when they file their UK tax returns.
“While some may see this as unfair and inequitable, the reality is that the international tax system is designed to try and ensure that workers, including television stars, aren’t innately liable to double taxation on their income.”
Millions watched Angry Ginge getting crowned King of the Jungle during the I’m A Celeb final on Sunday night. He beat Tom Read Wilson, who took second place, and Shona McGarty, in third.
Source: Mirror
Leave a Reply