Cheryl Tweedy faces big tax bill after losing case against HMRC

Cheryl Tweedy faces a large tax avoidance bill after losing a long-fought case against the HMRC.

The former Girls Aloud singer was found to have used her personal company CC Entertainments as part of a tax avoidance scheme.

The judge in the case said that Tweedy engaged in "straightforward profit extraction" through a fraudulent employee bonus scheme that meant the company paid capital gains tax instead of National Insurance and income tax.

Tweedy started the company under her married name, Cheryl Cole, at the height of her music successes that included five solo number one singles.

The HMRC can now force Tweedy to pay historical tax plus interest but she will not be fined. A spokesperson for the singer said they could not comment as the legal case was still ongoing.

Read More: Cheryl pays tribute to Sarah Harding

The HMRC released a statement on the ruling saying: "We welcome this ruling which confirms these were tax avoidance schemes. We are committed to ensuring that everyone pays the right tax at the right time to help fund our vital public services."

Tweedy originally rose to fame after winning a place in the group Girls Aloud on ITV talent show Popstars: The Rivals.

The group, which also included the late Sarah Harding, sold over 4 million albums in the UK before disbanding in 2013.

Tweedy then went on to release four solo albums with the most recent — Only Human — being released in 2014.

Since then, she has released two non-album singles but has largely stayed away from music until returning to perform at the Mighty Hoopla festival last year.

Tweedy also launched a podcast on BBC Sounds entitled You, Me & R&B with Cheryl which saw the singer exploring her love of R&B music.

The podcast was criticised for featuring Tweedy ahead of a black artist or someone more closely associated with the genre.

Watch: Rylan Clark-Neal thinks Cheryl should replace Bruno Tonioli on Strictly.