BBC 'allows 25,000 staff to avoid paying tax'
- According to the committee, the BBC employs up to 25,000 people a year who do not pay tax at source.
- MPs say that this number includes 13,000 people who appear on television and radio - so-called on-air "talent" - and another 12,000 off-air staff.
- Some 3,000 are paid via private companies, potentially allowing them to limit their tax liabilities.
- But the BBC insist that the actual number of people employed on this basis was far fewer than 25,000.
- They said: "In many cases an individual - such as an occasional contributor to programmes - could be issued with a contract each time he or she is booked to appear."
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