Politicians claim some Haringey Borough Council staff are being paid in a way which may allow tax avoidance.

Liberal Democrat councillors say these workers are paid by private companies or are self-employed, meaning they could possibly avoid income tax and national insurance amounting to nearly £100,000.

Since 2011, the opposition says eight staff have been paid a total of £487,000 'off-payroll'. The Haringey Independent has not been shown evidence any staff are avoiding tax.

Councillors have hit out at the Labour-run council for paying staff in a way that allows them to avoid tax.

Leader of the Lib Dems councillor Richard Wilson said: “This shocking news is a slap in the face for all the hard-working residents of Haringey who pay their taxes.

“It's outrageous that the council is allowing some long-term workers to claim they are self-employed or to be paid through a private company, knowing that this can be used to avoid paying national insurance and income tax.

“You would have thought that Haringey would have learnt from the scandals at the BBC and elsewhere that these arrangements just aren't acceptable."

He added: “The Government is clamping down on these dodgy tax arrangements nationally, and Haringey Council should do so too.

"It is hypocritical of the Labour council to complain about not getting enough funding from the Government, but then failing to make sure all their workers are even paying tax.

“Where do they think the money comes from? Haringey's Labour leadership needs to put a stop to these preferential tax arrangements."

In response a council spokeswoman said: “Consultants are used to cover specific project work or short term vacancies where the staff expertise, knowledge, experience and resource capacity cannot be covered from the current staff in the workforce.

“The council monitors the use of consultants and reports regularly to its corporate committee on both the number and duration of contracts for services.

She added: “To suggest that the small number of consultants engaged by the council are wilfully avoiding paying tax is irresponsible and unsubstantiated.”