Stop 12pc tax perk for MEPS and staff, Brussels told

European Commission under fire over special rates for workers as ‘Brexit bill’ negotiations loom

BRUSSELS must end the perk that allows EU staff and MEPS to pay, in some cases, as little as 12 per cent tax, politicians and campaigners have said. The call comes a day after The Daily Telegraph reported that the EU’S 28 commissioners had spent €500,000 on travel expenses in just two months and before tough negotiations over the socalled “Brexit bill” later this month.

The European Commission is thought to favour a settlement of €100 billion as the price for Brexit. Britain is planning an initial offer of £36 billion, The Sunday Telegraph reported.

Staff in the EU institutions do not pay national income tax; instead they pay an often far lower “community tax” directly back into the bloc’s budget. The money is used to fund programmes in EU member states.

According to figures from the commission, which has its headquarters in Brussels, the average percentage of tax and other deductions from basic salary is between 12 and 25 per cent. Belgians pay an income tax rate of 50 per cent on wages of more than £34,300.

There are 751 MEPS earning £86,700 a year. After the community tax and a health insurance contribution, they earn £71,599, according to the European Parliament. That is a 17.4 per cent community tax and insurance payment. Britain levies a 40 per cent tax rate on salaries of £45,001-£150,000.

David Campbell-bannerman, a Conservative MEP, said: “If we were too generous with this Brexit bill, what reason would commissioners have to rein in their wasteful, arrogant and out-oftouch lifestyle? There are no grounds to pay the EU simply to carry on with business as usual.”

Nigel Farage, the former leader of Ukip and an MEP since 1999, said: “In Euroland, the unaccountable bureaucrats think that income tax is just for the little people, who should just shut up and pay up. The quicker we get out, the less money we pay to these people, many of whom in the middle ranks get paid even more than MEPS.”

Steven Woolfe, an independent MEP, said: “These numbers show the EU gravy train running at top speed.

“Britain, as a net contributor, should not bow down to a Brexit bill, simply because the EU has no initiative to cut back on their own spending.” The European Commission said that the tax rate was necessary to ensure that all its staff around the world were taxed the same. It said its staff ’s status was close to that of people working for international organisations and the diplomatic services of national governments.

The commission said it would not confirm how much tax commissioners pay because it varies, making it “impossible” to give an average figure.

British MEPS top up their tax rate so it matches income tax in Britain, paying the difference to the Inland Revenue.