Angry Bradford Council workers have been left owing the tax man hundreds of pounds after a Council clanger.

The 120 workers in the building services department have received allowances for using their own cars for work over the past four years.

They received average payments of about £45 and say the allowance was on their payslips under non-taxable income.

But now the staff have been told the Council made a mistake and they should have paid tax on the part of the payment which was estimated as profit by the Inland Revenue.

The Council has been charged a penalty of £18,250 by the Inland Revenue by failing to deduct tax for the allowances.

Today, the staff said they had received a strong warning from their bosses not to go public about the mistake.

But they told the Telegraph & Argus they were furious and faced payments of up to £800.

One worker, who would not be named, said: "We have used our own cars for quite a long time and don't think we got a profit from it. In fact, in a lot of cases, it wasn't enough because it covered everything, including petrol.

"One person who would normally have paid about £200 for insurance had to pay about £700 because the car was being used for work. We showed goodwill to the Council and we have finished up like this."

A Council spokesman said there had been discussions with the Inland Revenue about the non-payment of tax and it was agreed the staff should only be charged for the amount not collected last year and the current year should be put on top of it.

The spokesman said some workers were only paying a very small amount but others may pay up to £500.

She said the Council had inherited the system when the building services department was transferred from the authority's contracting arm, Bradmet.

The Council's acting strategic director of housing David Kennedy said: "Depending on how often they use their own vehicles, some of them will have a tax liability on the allowance they are paid at the end of the financial year."

He said the non-payment had come to light in an Inland Revenue audit.

"The non-payment of tax was a genuine oversight and we have been working with the Revenue to resolve the issue, which involved 80 former Bradmet workers.

"Workers who currently claim the variable allowance have been informed that this is not a tax-free allowance and are required to complete mileage forms for tax purposes."

The Inland Revenue were unavailable for comment.

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