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I'm A Celeb's biggest names are heading home - but a substantial portion of their earnings will be remaining Down Under. This year's series featured some highly-paid celebrities, with Ruby Wax, Shona McGarty, Angry Ginge and Alex Scott believed to be earning approximately £100,000, whilst Jack Osbourne commanded even more at £200,000 and Aitch reportedly the highest earner with £250,000 with rates reaching 45% for top earners.

The positive news is that they're all poised to benefit enormously from the kind of visibility that appearing on ITV nightly can provide. However, the downside is that the Australian taxman is coming for their earnings.

Australia's top tax rate stands at 45% - and non-residents such as our campmates are taxed from the very first dollar.

This means the Australian government will collect significant sums from rapper Aitch and his fellow contestants over the three weeks that I'm A Celeb is broadcast - unlike when it was filmed in Wales during Covid, when the UK's own HMRC were able to collect the tax and National Insurance contributions.

Former I'm A Celeb contestant Michael Buerk previously revealed how much of his fee was taken by the Australian tax office following his appearance in 2014, explaining that the substantial payment which initially attracted him to the role ended up being reduced by nearly half. He said: "I was offered I'm A Celebrity a few times and I didn't want to do it.", reports the Mirror.

"But when the money they were offering got really high, I decided to do it. But they neglect to point out that the Australian taxman takes nearly 50 percent of it straight off the top, which takes some of the cream off."

Tax rates are likely to be reduced if celebrities' payments are made to a company, and naturally the lower-paid participants won't be affected as severely. Non-residents in Australia earning up to $135,000 (approximately £65,000) pay 30% on their taxable income and 37% thereafter.

Those earning more than $190,000 (roughly £95,000) pay 45% on earnings above that threshold.

Taking Aitch's reported fee of £250,000 - equivalent to just over 500,000 Australian dollars - that means $40,500 tax owed on the lower bracket, $20,350 on the middle portion and $139,500 on the top tier, totalling just under £100,000 in British currency.

Previous years' participants will have faced even larger bills. Coleen Rooney, who took part in the programme last year, received a substantial payment believed to be around £1.5million - along with a considerable tax liability.

Nigel Farage, Harry Redknapp and Noel Edmonds also secured substantial fees.

The positive news for the stars - who will be accustomed to significant tax bills whenever they undertake well-paid projects elsewhere - is they're unlikely to face double taxation from HMRC upon returning to the UK. Tax specialist Robert Salter provided a succinct explanation of the situation: "When the show was in Wales, HMRC was able to receive all the tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs) which were due on the stars' appearance fees. This meant that with the highest earning stars, HMRC could actually receive up to 47% of their fee income (45% income tax and 2% NICs)."

He continued: "However, with the show being filmed in Australia, the initial taxing rights on the appearance money sits there, where the highest earners from the show will be liable to a marginal tax rate of 45% on their appearance fees. These Australian taxes can then be claimed as a 'tax credit' against the stars' UK tax liabilities, and this may mean in some cases that the individuals will have no additional UK income tax to pay on this income when they file their UK tax returns."

Salter added: "While some may see this as unfair and inequitable, the reality is that the international tax system is designed to try and ensure that workers, including television stars, aren't innately liable to double taxation on their income."

Millions tuned in to watch Angry Ginge being crowned King of the Jungle during the I'm A Celeb final on Sunday night. He triumphed over Tom Read Wilson, who came second, and Shona McGarty, who finished third.

In a shocking turn of events, Aitch was ousted the previous night, despite being a strong favourite to clinch the competition. Many have pointed fingers at an overconfident public, who assumed he was safe and instead used their five votes to secure other campmates they wished to keep in the game.