BBC pressured us into avoiding tax say 170 stars
A DAMNING letter from 170 BBC presenters last night accused bosses of pressuring them to use tax avoidance schemes.
The stars claimed they felt they ‘had no choice’ but to set up so- called personal service companies (PSCs).
The group, which includes some of Britain’s best-known broadcasters in news, sport and entertainment, said the BBC was attempting to shift ‘the moral and financial burden’ of its mismanagement onto presenters.
Many of those who set up PSCs are now being pursued by HMRC over unpaid tax.
The BBC said yesterday that no employee was ‘ forced’ to use PSCs, a mechanism that allowed the corporation to avoid paying National Insurance contributions. But in a letter to the Daily Telegraph, the group said: ‘Presenters were told that if they did not form a PSC, the BBC would no longer give them any work. Many of them did not want to set up a PSC but felt they had no choice.’ The statement added: ‘To suggest that working through a PSC was a free choice is simply nonsense – and the BBC knows it is untrue.
‘The BBC’s press statement attempts to put the moral and financial burden of the errors the BBC has made onto the presenters it engages.’ Each of those who signed the letter, many of whom appeared on the list of BBC employees earning over £150,000, chose to remain anonymous.
One source said they feared being named could jeopardise their careers after seeing what happened to former BBC China editor Carrie Gracie. Some said they are paid through PSCs, while others operate as sole traders. One source said: ‘We have seen the briefing against Carrie Gracie and how vicious that has been.’
It comes as the BBC faces a backlash from presenters who could be slapped with hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of tax bills after setting up PSCs.
Presenters alleged they were victims of ‘industrial-level tax avoidance’ at the Corporation. Around 100 could be hit with hefty tax bills. A prominent BBC star has said that many colleagues who are being investigated by HMRC have been ‘ seriously upset’ by the BBC’s refusal to accept it has anything to do with the situation. The anonymous presenter told The Sunday Telegraph: ‘If the BBC had held its hands up and said, “We shouldn’t have done this”, people would have accepted it.
‘But we have sat by for years watching the BBC say this is nothing to do with them, as if we all spontaneously and independently decided to set up personal service companies at the same time. This was industrial level tax avoidance by the BBC.’ Tory MP Damian Collins later warned the BBC could be liable to foot the tax bills if stars were pressured ‘against their will’ and faced penalties ‘through no fault of their own’. A BBC spokesman said an independent review in 2012 found no evidence of tax avoidance or individuals being forced to use PSCs.
The BBC insists the responsibility lies with the individuals who were ‘engaged through Personal Service Companies’ to pay the correct rate of tax.
A spokesman said: ‘We reject the notion that our statement is incorrect. The law was clear that prior to 2017, where an individual had a PSC it was their responsibility to pay the correct tax. It was and remains standard industry practice to engage freelancers working for multiple organisations via a PSC.’