Harry Potter Star Rupert Grint Loses Legal Battle, Ordered To Pay Over Rs 18 Crore In Taxes

Former Harry Potter star Rupert Grint who plays the character of Ronald Bilius Weasley has been ordered to pay 1.8 million pounds (Rs 18.34 Crore) in taxes after losing a court battle, according to BBC. He lost a legal battle with HM Revenue and Customs in 2019 and was ordered to pay the sum following an investigation into his tax return from the 2011-12 tax year.

Lawyers for the 36-year-old appealed, arguing that money he received from a company had been correctly taxed as a capital asset, but HMRC said it should have been taxed as income at a higher rate. However, Grint’s argument has been dismissed by a tax tribunal judge, as per the news report.

Grint had received a 4.5 million pounds sum from a company which managed his business affairs as “consideration for rights, records and goodwill” from his work, which he claimed was a “capital asset” and therefore the subject of capital gains tax.

But HMRC argued the fee should have been classed as income and after the investigation Mr Grint was told he needed to pay an additional 1,801,060 pounds in tax.

According to Sky News, Lawyers for Mr Grint appealed against HMRC’s decision at a hearing in the First-Tier Tribunal in London in November and December 2022. They argued the right amount of tax had been paid.

The money “derived substantially the whole of its value from the activities of Mr Grint” and was “otherwise realised” as income, according to the tribunal judge Harriet Morgan’s decision, which rejected Grint’s appeal. In 2019, he lost a different court lawsuit involving a tax return of one million pounds.

Rupert Grint was 12 years old when he starred as Ronald Bilius Weasley in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in 2001. Ronald Weasley is a beloved character from JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series. Grint played the role in all eight Harry Potter films, released between 2001 and 2011. After the Harry Potter series, Grint acted in movies like Into the White and Knock at the Cabin. He also ventured into TV and theater. For the past four years, he has been starring in the Apple TV series Servant.