BBC bosses won’t appear before MPS to defend tax practices
THE BBC has refused to appear before a committee of MPS investigating the corporation’s tax affairs.
The head of the select committee on digital, culture, media and sport said it was “highly disappointing” that the BBC would not send a single executive to defend the controversial practice of paying presenters via personal service companies.
The BBC saved millions in employer’s National Insur- ance contributions by telling presenters to set up the companies, subsequently the subject of an HMRC crackdown.
Damian Collins, chairman of the select committee, said: “It is highly disappointing that the BBC management did not see fit to send anyone to give evidence at this session given there are many outstanding questions for them to answer.”
One household name said: “The fact that the BBC is a no-show is very, very unusual. The executives have suddenly realised they can’t defend the official position and the MPS are on to them.”
The committee will hear next Tuesday from presenters Liz Kershaw and Kirsty Lang who will claim that the BBC gave them little choice but to be paid via personal service companies.
The BBC’S director-general, Lord Hall of Birkenhead, Anne Bulford, his deputy, and Sir David Clementi, the chairman, appeared before the committee last month to answer questions about equal pay. They were asked to provide supplementary written evidence but Mr Collins said: “The BBC’S answers to our written questions on pay data were not particularly illuminating… We are likely to have some robust written questions following the session.”
A BBC spokesman said: “We appeared before the select committee very recently, and are doing a huge amount of work to make progress in this area … We are open to appearing before them again once we have more to update them on and have had a chance to consider any new evidence presented on Tuesday.”