LONDON - A report from a U.K. parliamentary committee says that the
BBC is helping thousands of employees, including about 1,500 on-air
hosts, news readers, actors and other talent, avoid tax payments,
according to the Daily Telegraph.
The Public Accounts Committee suggests that the public broadcaster
is “complicit” in tax avoidance as it allows people to be paid as
companies rather than individuals, it said. The arrangement allows both
the BBC and the employees to pay lower taxes.
The BBC now acknowledges that about 1,500 on-air contributors, actors
and others are paid under such freelance-style contracts, up from its
previous estimate of 300, the Telegraph said. It highlighted
that this figure includes the company's "best-known television and radio
stars," but the report didn't mention specific names.
Newsnight host Jeremy Paxman for one recently said that the BBC asked him to set up a company or risk losing his role.
Overall, it has emerged that the BBC has 25,000 freelance contract
arrangements. It acknowledges that it does not know if these freelancers
are paying their taxes properly.
Margaret Hodge, the chairman of the Public Accounts
Committee, told the Telegraph: “I want the BBC to stop and call a halt
to what is completely unacceptable use of tax avoidance schemes...The
BBC’s revenues are from hard earned taxes from ordinary families and
they have a duty to lead by example – they have a double duty to be
cleaner than clean."
The BBC had told her committee that the use of freelance workers is
“a pretty standard model” in media and “important to the economics of
the BBC."
The paper quoted the BBC as saying about the committee report: “We
note the conclusions of the PAC report and will respond to the points
raised as part of our detailed review of tax arrangements.”
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