‘Huge tax bills’ for 800 BBC stars in pay row
We were forced to use firms to funnel wages, say hosts
HUNDREDS of BBC presenters are facing huge tax bills after the corporation encouraged them to have their wages funnelled through private companies.
Thousands of staff were employed off-payroll from 2007 to 2012, meaning they could cut their tax bills by thousands of pounds.
Presenters say the BBC forced them to set up ‘personal service companies’ so it could avoid paying millions in national insurance contributions. Last night, MPs accused the corporation of failing to ‘fully untangle’ the ‘mess’ caused by the special tax vehicles.
A National Audit Office report revealed that 800 presenters could potentially be asked to pay back tax and suggested the HMRC is investigating about 100 BBC freelance staff.
In one case, regional presenter Christa Ackroyd, 61, has been ordered to pay almost £420,000 in unpaid tax after she was ‘encouraged’ to set up a PSC. The broadcaster was the anchor of BBC Look North in Yorkshire for 12 years until inquiries into her tax affairs led to her being taken off air in 2013.
MP Meg Hillier, chairman of the Commons public accounts committee, said: ‘We raised concerns about the BBC’s use of personal service companies six years ago.
‘It is worrying that, six years on, the mess of clarifying the employment status for tax purposes of people the BBC hires through PSCs has not been fully untangled.
‘With around 100 investigations into PSCs still outstanding, the BBC and HMRC must work together to ensure certainty for freelancers working for the BBC. Particularly for those freelancers who have been left in desperate circumstances.’
Last month, the Commons culture committee said the BBC must compensate presenters hit with huge tax demands after they ‘coerced’ many into being paid through private companies. Several BBC presenters told the committee they were given no choice about setting up these companies. Others said they had suffered ‘life-altering levels of stress and worry’.
Last night’s NAO report concluded: ‘By May, the BBC estimated that some 800 presenters, nearly 300 of whom were hired through PSCs, warranted further review as they were at risk of being challenged by HMRC.
‘This could involve tax arrears for the BBC and for the PSCs.’
It added: ‘Between April and September 2017, the BBC paid £8.3 million of tax (in advance) to HMRC to avoid any penalty charges for not paying tax that was potentially due. It has not yet fully recouped the money from freelancers, partly because of concerns raised by individuals.’ The report said that by June 2018, the corporation was yet to recoup £2.9 million.
An HMRC spokesman said: ‘Presenters are now increasingly paying the right tax and most do. Where presenters have not paid the right amount of tax it is right that we enforce the law so people are treated equally and fairly.’
A BBC spokesman said: ‘As the NAO recognises, personal service companies are a legitimate way of contracting for services used by many across the media industry.
‘We recognise there are still issues to address and remain committed to resolving them.’
It came as BBC director general Tony Hall condemned the ‘utterly shameful and unacceptable’ threats made against journalists globally.
Lord Hall said ‘all too often’ journalists across the world were being targeted and even killed ‘simply for doing their job’. He also spoke out against the ‘disgraceful’ anonymous threats many in the industry faced on social media.
He called for rival news organisations to unite to tackle the issue, saying: ‘Some of the material journalists have had to face is quite frankly disgraceful. It is an attempt to intimidate people and stop them doing their jobs.’
Lord Hall, who was speaking at the News Xchange international conference in Edinburgh, said it could ‘feel like our profession right now is under siege’.
‘Not been fully untangled’