Taxing

I've just caught up with Monday's grilling of BBC CFO Zarin Patel and her tax advisor David Smith, by MPs on the Public Accounts Committee.  It's a gruelling 45 minutes, starting at around 15.31.00 on the clock. It's all a bit technical for me, but I suspect the follow-up information requested from the BBC will make it worse. Ms Patel has to provide more detail on the 148 presenters paid through service companies, about the length of their relationship with Auntie. It's hard to think of any major news voices or faces who have parted company with the BBC in recent years; there's usually a stooshie when it happens (cf Miriam O'Reilly), and a safety net appears (cf Ed Stourton's departure from Today). And it's clear the MPs think that deals that have gone on for more than five years should fall foul of HMRC rules on payments to people via companies.