And finally…Wizard Weasley confronts taxman

According to The Guardian newspaper, actor Rupert Grint, who played Ron Weasley in the film franchise based on the best-selling children’s book series, has brought the case despite reportedly earning around £24 million from the films.

The dispute relates to accounts created in 2010, says the newspaper, when, it is claimed, tax inspectors prevented him employing an accounting period shorter than 12 months, between 31 July 2009 and 5 April 2010, which ended on the eve of the new tax year in which a 50 per cent top rate of tax came into force.

Grint’s accountant has confirmed that the taxman’s rejection of the changed date resulted in a tax payment of about £1 million.

The payment came around the time filming was under way on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1.

The 50p rate was abolished by chancellor George Osborne in the 2012 Budget.

Lawyers for Grint told a High Court tax tribunal that there was nothing improper or untoward about changing the accounting date. They said this was accepted by HMRC.

The date change was called into question by an accounting document discovered during an unrelated and routine VAT inspection which showed a different date. This resulted in it being rejected by tax inspectors.

Grint’s lawyers said the document was an informal summary of financial information and not an official set of accounts.

Grint said in court earlier in the week that his knowledge about his financial affairs was ‘quite limited’.

He said his tax returns were handled by his father, Nigel, and accountant, Dan Clay.

HMRC have said officials cannot comment on the case.

The hearing closes on 29 June.