BBC urged to open up about tax

Senior BBC executives are set to be quizzed by MPs about the tax affairs and pay of top BBC staff.
The enquiry by the Public Accounts Committee has come about after it was revealed that over 2,000 public servants are paid through a system which allows them to pay corporation tax rather than higher rate income tax. The service company contract arrangement, which is completely legal but frowned upon for public servants, also means the employer does not need to pay National Insurance for the employee.
Zarin Patel, the BBC’s chief financial officer, and David Smith, the corporation’s head of employment tax, are set to be grilled by the committee this week.
Labour minister Margaret Hodge, who chairs the Public Accounts Committee, is quoted by the Guardian as saying, "We are calling [the BBC] because we understand they have a huge number of people who are being paid through personal companies and we need to understand whether this is tax avoidance or a legitimate business practice.”
She added, "If in that group there are presenters, I think probably we will legitimately want to know. I have got a very simple principle here: if you earn your wage on the back of the taxpayers, and they do in effect because they get their money from the licence fee, you have a moral imperative to lead by example."

http://www.50percenttax.co.uk/index/2012/7/30/bbc-urged-to-open-up-about-tax.html