Treasury investigates 50 per cent tax avoidance

The Treasury looks set to investigate 50 per cent tax avoidance plans as yet another high profile individual has been revealed to be employing alternative methods to cut their taxes. Moira Stuart, a BBC newsreader who also fronts HM Revenue & Customs' (HMRC) 'tax doesn't have to be taxing' adverts, has been shown to have set up a company to allow her to pay corporation tax on of 21 per cent on some of her earnings and avoid paying the full income tax of 50 per cent on high earning periods. Politicians have also been found to have employed this and similar methods, prompting HMRC and the Treasury to investigate government employees' taxes. So far, the investigation has thrown up 25 senior staff in the Department of Health who are paid in this way. The head of the Student Loans Company has also been found to receive his bills in this manner, which, the Telegraph reports, could be saving him up to £40,000 a year in tax. Ms Stuart, meanwhile, was found to have created Moira Stuart Limited – of which she is the sole director and shareholder – just days before Labour introduced the 50 per cent top tax rate back in early 2010.

http://www.50percenttax.co.uk/index/2012/2/20/treasury-investigates-50-per-cent-tax-avoidance.html