Charlie Stayt, the BBC Breakfast presenter, has avoided bankruptcy after agreeing to pay off a tax bill of about £190,000.
HMRC had filed a bankruptcy petition against Mr Stayt and his wife, Anne.
However, it asked for the petition to be withdrawn at a hearing of the specialist Insolvency and Companies Court in London on Monday, after the couple reduced the debt and agreed to pay the balance.
Judge Sebastian Prentis said that the couple had owed “£191,000-odd” and there is “£32,000-odd” still to be paid.
Anam Rezvi, solicitor for HMRC, told the court: “HMRC would like to seek permission to withdraw, as the balance has now been reduced and the remaining balance has agreed to be paid by the debtors.”
Neither Mr Stayt nor his wife attended the hearing.
The presenter is among the BBC’s highest-paid news presenters, earning up to £194,999 last year for hosting the breakfast programme alongside Naga Munchetty.
He and his wife are directors of Stayt Limited which lists the nature of its business as television programming and broadcasting activities.
Mr Stayt, 62, made headlines in 2021 when he and Munchetty appeared to mock Robert Jenrick, who was then a government minister, for displaying a Union flag in his office.
The presenters laughed at its presence, with Mr Stayt telling Mr Jenrick: “I think your flag is not up to standard size, Government-interview measurements. I think it’s just a little bit small, but that’s your department, really.”
Mr Stayt joined BBC Breakfast in 2006 after working for ITN and Five News.
He is not the first BBC presenter to have run into difficulties with HMRC.
Gary Lineker won his £5 million tax battle in March, while Adrian Chiles’s £1.7 million case is still ongoing after 10 years.
A spokesman for Mr Stayt did not respond to a request for comment.
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