Rupert Grint, 'Harry Potter' actor, ordered to pay $2.3 million after losing legal dispute over taxes
upert Grint attends the "Knock at the Cabin" UK Special Screening at Vue West End on January 25, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)
Rupert Grint, best known for playing Ron Weasley in the "Harry Potter" film franchise, reportedly owes $2.3 million after losing a legal battle with tax authorities in London.
According to The Associated Press, Grint was ordered to pay the amount in 2019 after the U.K. tax agency, H.M. Revenue and Customs, investigated his tax return from the 2011-2012 tax year.
Representatives for Grint and H.M. Revenue and Customs did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
H.M. Revenue and Customs argued that Grint had wrongly claimed approximately $5.7 million in residuals from the "Harry Potter" films, including earnings from DVD sales, TV syndication, streaming rights and other sources, as a capital asset rather than income, which is subject to a much higher tax rate, according to the AP.
Grint's attorneys initially appealed the ruling, but after years of back and forth, a judge ruled against the actor this week, the AP reported.
Judge Harriet Morgan said the money "derived substantially the whole of its value from the activities of Mr. Grint" and "is taxable as income."
In 2021, Grint opened about his time filming the "Harry Potter" series and revealed how it felt "suffocating" at times.
"There was a time where it felt quite suffocating," Grint, 32, said on Dax Shepard’s "Armchair Expert" podcast. "Because it was heavy going, because it was every day for, I think, 10 years in the end. … Sometimes, it definitely felt like, ‘I want to do something else. I want to see what else is out there.’"
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The first "Harry Potter" film, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone," was released in 2001 when Grint was 13. The franchise ran for another decade and came to a close with 2011’s "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part II," shortly before Grint’s 23rd birthday.
"It never ended. Every year we came back. It was kind of like Groundhog Day," the actor continued. "The same sets, the same people.
"I was obsessed with that character. So, for me, it was all about being Ron. I didn’t really see a career after it was done. I didn’t see that far ahead."
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