MPs’ shock at BBC’s tax arrangements

MPs have raised concerns that the BBC employs 25,000 people a year who do not pay tax at source.

The cross-party public accounts committee said it was “shocked” to discover how many off-payroll contracts, under which individuals must make their own tax and National Insurance payments, were provided by the BBC.

The number includes 13,000 people who appear on television and radio, plus off-air staff. About 3,000 are paid via private companies, potentially allowing them to limit their tax liabilities.

Committee chairwoman Margaret Hodge warned that the use of off-payroll arrangements gave rise to “suspicions of complicity in tax avoidance”. She said it was suspected “many individuals and employers in local government and in the health service do not pay their proper tax”.

The figures emerged as part of a MPs’ inquiry set up after controversy over Student Loans Company boss Ed Lester’s employment through a personal service company without tax being deducted.