Celebs get tax efficient
The weekend papers report that top celebrities at the BBC are officially going freelance to minimise their tax liabiltiies and avoid the 50% rate for salaries of more than £150,000.
Not entirely sure why this has come as a big surprise to anyone. TV personalities at the BBC and some of its executives, have always done that. Especially when they had significant outside interests. The papers say that used to be much easier but in truth many of the BBC’s on-screen stars make extra cash by a bit of after dinner speaking which can mean anything from £5,000 and much more for an evening’s work. Get a few of those under your belt each year and the income soon starts to add up. So much so in fact that £150,000 a year can be achievable quite comfortably.
The real surprise is that many more presenters don’t already operate through service companies to minimise their tax.