Acerbic Newsnight host Jeremy Paxman, is one of over a 100 presenters who have been forced to ditch their controversial ‘personal service companies’ as part of a new bid to clampdown on tax avoidance.
The system had requires top talent to set up ‘personal service companies’ in order to receive their pay as companies rather than individuals but one beneficiary of the deal, Paxman, claimed he had been forced into doing it.
He told The Sun: “Some clown in the BBC had insisted as a condition of my engagement on Newsnight that I had to do it and I resented it deeply. I very strongly believe that everyone should pay their taxes.”
Several of the BBC’s most well-known broadcasters also reputedly dodged paying tax as a result of the deal, including Fiona Bruce, Emily Maitlis and Gavin Esler.
MPs accused the public service broadcaster of ‘complicity’ in tax avoidance, describing the arrangements as ‘staggeringly inappropriate’.
The furore has forced the BBC to change its tax arrangements, moving 131 freelancers onto staff contracts at the end of their current deals.