Broker Tullett Prebon has agreed to delay bonus payments for senior executives to enable them to take advantage of the reduction in the higher-rate income tax from 50% to 45% in April.
It offered the option to eligible employees following staff requests. Of the eligible group, 5% chose to delay their bonus, which amounted to a couple of dozen staff.
A spokesperson from Tullett Prebon said: “We’re between a rock and a hard place.
“Either we put in place the scheme as requested by our staff and run the risk of public opprobrium or we don’t and there is greater danger that our staff may move to a competitor.
“The company believes that taxation should be a matter of law not moral suasion and/or public persecution, and Tullett Prebon is not a bank and has never required any state aid.”
On 21 January, insurance broker Aon offered senior staff this option, and 250 employees will receive their 2012 bonuses after 6 April.
Investment bank Goldman Sachs decided not to defer staff bonuses from 2009, 2010 and 2011 after a media outcry in mid-January.