The corporation has taken advantage of George Osborne's offer of tax breaks, dubbed the Downton Abbey Tax, for high end TV productions by setting up two limited companies and according to reports has reclaimed over half a million pounds (£530,000) this year from two dramas yet to be broadcast ('One Child' pictured).
"It is wrong for the BBC to deliberately set up an artificial structure to get taxpayers' money as it is for Google, Starbucks and Amazon, and they should stop it," commented Hodge. "I believe in the publicly funded service but they have got to behave properly."
The BBC said the government was aware of the approach in which Grafton House Productions and Comedy Productions were established to secure a rebate of up to 20 per cent on high-profile shows and has voiced no objections.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, the BBC said it was "committed to investing as much money as possible into the shows audiences love" and that applying for tax credits means it can invest more money into programmes which "in turn delivers wider economic and cultural benefits by ensuring productions are shot in the UK rather than abroad".
The spokesperson added: "It also allows the BBC to compete on equal footing with independent productions, including those commissioned by the BBC, that use the tax credit.
The UK tax credits are available to all productions which satisfy the clear, objective criteria set out in the relevant legislation.
Having taken the appropriate legal, tax and regulatory advice, the BBC considers that it is best able to deliver the benefits associated with the UK tax credit via commercial subsidiaries. The government is aware of this approach and has voiced no objection."
Cuts in corporation tax to high-cost dramas, comedies and animations made in Britain were announced in Osbourne's 2012 budget. From April to December last year more than £233 million was invested in high-end television produced in the UK.
