ONE Direction still raked in £38,000-a-week despite taking a break from music three years ago.
New figures have revealed that the band – who started off on The X Factor – banked £2m in 2018 even though they are taking an extended break.
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And the savvy lads will also be able to dodge most of a £24.7 million tax bill because of a special insurance policy.
The boyband – Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and ex-member Zayn Malik – are appealing the monster demand — believed to be one of the biggest such debts in pop history — which they were slapped with in 2016.
Newly filed accounts for 1D Media Limited — which handles the fortunes of the singers – say the dispute is still “the subject of litigation by the company”.
Accountants have revealed in books filed this week: “If the company is unsuccessful in the proposed litigation, the maximum obligation is estimated to be approximately £24.7m including interest.
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“However the company has an indemnity against third parties in relation to such an event and the amount which should be reimbursed to the company is estimated to be approximately £18.4m.”
That means they’d have to stump over just over £6 million if they lose the tax fight.
Their big-money tax battle is because of a probe by HM Revenue & Customs over the firm’s organisation into a controversial “alphabet scheme”.
A source said: “Being one of the world’s most successful music acts unfortunately can come at a hefty price.
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“Their firm decided to use an alphabet scheme for the hundreds of millions of pounds they earned. It means shares are grouped into categories — such as A to J — and allows profits to be paid in the form of dividends at different rates.
“However, while legal, HMRC inspectors have since decided to crack down and target them as potential measures of avoiding tax.
“Because dividends are not subject to National Insurance contributions like wages, they have less tax deducted from them than is taken off salaries.
“It means One Direction could now be set to pay back a huge sum to the taxman.”
After resigning as directors of 1D Media in April 2016, the boys made £14million each from selling just ten shares in the firm and have continued to watch the money roll in with their solo careers.
There is no suggestion the band members have engaged in tax evasion, which is illegal.
A 1D source previously insisted the share classes were set up to account for Zayn’s departure from the band and to “differentiate his right to receive income”.
