BBC paid £74m to stars’ personal companies

The BBC secretly used personal companies to pay dozens of its richest stars £74million over the past four years, despite promising to curb the practice in 2012, according to an investigation by The Times.

Using Freedom of Information requests, the paper revealed that this payment method was still in place for two thirds of the BBC’S highest-paid presenters and actors.

The practice can allow employers to avoid national insurance and means workers are taxed as companies.

In response, the BBC said the practice had never been an attempt to avoid tax or national insurance and that its contracts with freelancers reflected the correct level of tax.