Coronation Street star Bill Roache is facing bankruptcy after HMRC filed a petition against him.
Bill, 91, who has played Ken Barlow in the ITV soap Coronation Street since 1960, is the show's highest-paid actor, earning around £250,000 a year. Away from the cobbles, the actor has found himself in financial troubles with HMRC.
The tax office said it does not comment on individual cases but a spokesperson told The Mirror: "We take a supportive approach to dealing with customers who have tax debts, and do everything we can to help those who engage with us to get out of debt, such as offering instalment plans.
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“We only petition for bankruptcy as a last resort.” A spokesperson for Coronation Street said: "We're really sorry to hear of Bill's financial situation. Bill has an ongoing contract with Coronation Street and remains a much-loved member of the cast."
In 2018, the Mirror told how the actor faced a huge bill after investing in a £500million Cayman Islands tax avoidance scheme. It was not known how much he had invested in Twofold First Services LLP, owned by a company in the Caymans.
But he was one of 288 investors who entered the scheme and put in, on average, £1.75million. Papers seen by The Mirror showed he joined the scheme in March 2012.
It involved claiming tax relief from the artificial losses of a land-owning business. The complex arrangement meant investors could use the paper loss to reduce their income tax.
A tribunal later ruled in favour of HMRC, which successfully argued Twofold was "a tax avoidance arrangement". It was branded "abusive and artificial" by the Treasury.
Explaining why a bankruptcy petition is issued, a HMRC spokesman said yesterday: “When we file a petition for bankruptcy that is us applying to the court in order to allow us to obtain a bankruptcy order.”
He said filing a petition was a “last resort”. “We might have an outstanding tax debt, if someone refused to engage with us and pay the tax that is due, then as a last resort we will issue a bankruptcy action and issuing petition for bankruptcy is obviously how we go about that in terms of the correct legal process. That is in order to recover the tax that they owe but as I say, it is the sort of thing we do as a last resort."
Bill was declared bankrupt 24 years ago after he successfully sued a newspaper for describing him as “boring”. He was awarded £50,000 in damages but it was the same amount he had turned down in an out-of-court settlement before the case, leaving him liable for £120,000 in costs.
Bill sued his law firm for negligence but was declared bankrupt in 1999. He is one of Britain’s best-loved TV stars and signed another year-long deal to stay on as Ken Barlow last month.
He has appeared in the ITV1 soap since it was first broadcast on December 9, 1960, and has said he wants to keep playing Ken until he is 100. In 2022 the actor, who lives in Wilmslow, Cheshire, received an OBE from King Charles for services to drama and charity.
Bill, the world’s longest-serving soap star, who already had an MBE, said at the time: "I'm delighted to be receiving an OBE as it's such a wonderful honour. I can't tell you how proud I am.
"Coronation Street has given me so much in life and I absolutely love the programme and everyone who works on the show.”
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