Gary Lineker is set to make a major tax saving after putting his TV film production company into liquidation last week. Goalhanger Films, which is co-owned by Lineker and former ITV controller Tony Pastor, has appointed a voluntary liquidator despite being a solvent company. The firm’s most recently published accounts show net assets of over £440,000.
Pastor said the film production company was being “mothballed”, with the business increasingly focussing on Goalhanger Podcasts. The sister company was originally a smaller sideline to Goalhanger Films, but has outgrown it due to the huge success of The Rest Is History and The Rest Is Politics, and more recently The Rest is Football, which is presented by Lineker. The decision to liquidate Goalhanger Films comes ahead of tax changes announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves last month.
Following the Budget, business owners will be liable for a higher rate of capital gains tax from April, when it rises from 10 per cent to 14 per cent before increasing to 18 per cent the following year. As a result of entering liquidation this month Lineker will pay capital gains tax at 10 per cent on the first £1m paid out to him following the disposal of assets from Goalhanger Films, which is expected to pay off any remaining creditors. Goalhanger Films has not filed any accounts for over two-and-a-half years, with its most recent financial results, for the year ending May 2022, showing assets of £442,500.
The company applied to change its .