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Tieng Anh Vui
Top civil servants are having some tax paid using public money, a newspaper investigation has revealed.
The arrangement has been criticised by senior Conservative MP Richard Bacon, who is a member of the Commons Public Accounts Committee.
He said it was surprising that the taxpayer was being asked to "fork out further" for bills many employees would be expected to pay for themselves.
The system has the approval of HM Revenue and Customs.
Company car
The Daily Telegraph investigated the taxable benefits of the country's most senior civil servants.
A company car, for example, is regarded by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) as a benefit in kind from an employer to a member of staff and so is subject to tax.
The Telegraph discovered that the tax bill associated with the chauffeur-driven car available to Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood was picked up by the government rather than by him.
The car costs more than £80,000 a year to run, about £25,000 of which is tax.
The Cabinet Office said the car was also used to transport other senior officials and Sir Jeremy did not use it privately.
Others said to have benefitted from the system included the head of NHS England, Sir David Nicholson, and the former head of the Serious Fraud Office, Phillippa Williamson.
'Common practice'
Mr Bacon said: "Most taxpayers would be surprised to find that this sort of thing is tax-free. These are out of line with what one would expect from the way people in the private sector are treated.
"Taxpayers are already paying a lot for these people, I don't think they would be expecting to dig into their pocket to pay for the tax on the benefit as well."
HMRC said more widely 20,000 employees had payments made on their behalf by their employers, most in the private sector.
A spokesman said in a statement: "We can't discuss individual cases. However, cars provided by an employer that are available for employee use are a benefit in kind for the employee and are taxable. These rules have been in place for 37 years.
"Employers may choose to pay the tax due on the benefit. If so any such payment will constitute an additional benefit - which will also be taxable on the employee.
"This is quite a common practice by employers and is a matter between employer and employee. HMRC makes sure all the tax due is paid."
Being on call
Dave Penman, general secretary of the First Division Association, the trade union for senior civil servants, told the BBC that the use of government cars had fallen because of recent cuts.
Their use "was not a perk", but essential for senior staff doing "demanding jobs", requiring them to be on call seven days a week.
Earlier this week, it emerged that central government spent more than £500m on consultants and short-term staff last year despite a crackdown on the practice.
The Times reported that the figure was nearer £800m when "off payroll" staff were included - at the same time £287m was spent on staff redundancies.
Also this week local councils urged the government to become as "efficient" as them at collecting taxes, arguing this could make Whitehall an extra £20bn a year.
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