Britain's public-service tax-cheats

Back in February, it was revealed that more than 25 senior staff at the UK's Department of Health were being paid through companies, allowing them to "minimise" (that's "cheat on") their taxes. Now it turns out that the problem is pervasive across the UK's entire public service:

More than 2,000 senior public sector officials are being paid through private companies rather than the government's payroll in an attempt to minimise their tax bill, according to a leaked Treasury document.

A confidential letter sent by Danny Alexander, chief secretary to the Treasury, to George Osborne, the chancellor, admits that the government had no idea of the scale of the tax arrangements.

These are not consultants, but ordinary (well, senior) employees who work within the public service. Their cheating is costing the government millions of pounds a year. Fortunately, it looks like it is going to be stamped out, with departments told to eliminate such arrangements within three months or face financial penalties. But it should never have been allowed to take root in the first place. The fact that it did speaks volumes about the UK's corrupt public service culture.

So are such arrangements used here? No, at least as far as I can tell. No major government department pays employees through any means other than wages or salary. Consultants, OTOH...