A raft of BBC staff could have to pay back thousands in tax after HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) won a landmark case against a former regional news presenter.
Christina Ackroyd, who had previously worked on the Look North programme, had been involved in a legal wrangle with the tax authority.
Ms Ackroyd had worked for the corporation on a personal service company contract, which meant she was paid through a limited company and consequently made far less in tax.
However, she was dismissed from the BBC five years ago after HMRC officials claimed that she was, in actual fact, an employee at the organisation and not entitled to the tax breaks.
The case has since been fought out in the courts, with a first-tier tax tribunal this week ruling in favour of HMRC.
This leaves Ms Ackroyd liable to pay in excess of £400,000 in income tax and National Insurance.
A HMRC spokesman said: “Employment status is never a matter of choice. It is always dictated by the facts and when the wrong tax is being paid we put things right.”
The BBC now faces questions itself, after documents produced during the tribunal showed that it was the broadcaster which had suggested she set up the personal service company. Ms Ackroyd had told proceedings that she had been “made a scapegoat” by the corporation.
Dozens of other presenters employed under similar arrangements are now facing the prospect of also having to pay significant sums in back-dated tax.
The BBC has previously suggested that the use of personal service companies to pay presenters had been common practice throughout the broadcasting industry.