SIR – There is new concern about the tax avoidance abuse where public money is concerned!

But this is nothing new, as it has gone on quite blatantly for many decades.

Today retired, I was an employee for years on PAYE, also have been in business as a self-employed sole trader, partnership and limited company plus was VAT registered so know and understand all sides of the argument.

So how can any BBC celebrity on the same show five nights a week for 25 years be anything else but an employee? Or why any NHS manager working on a casual or temporary basis shouldn’t be paid on PAYE with an emergency code number. Or why should an MP of any party employed by constituents be able to dodge tax on outside earnings.

But the real culprit is of course HM Revenue & Customs who clearly operate a double standard, i.e. one for the worker or OAP, another for the elite.

D S Boyes, Upper Rodley Lane, Leeds