29 October 2004 Companies are being offered the opportunity to cut mobile phone bills dramatically through an innovative new scheme.

Accounting firm BDO Stoy Hayward has devised a method of obtaining tax breaks on mobile phones, based on the government’s Home Computer Inniative.

The accounting firm claims that users could reduce their phone bill costs by up to 41%. And already British American Tobacco is thought to be using the scheme.

HCI is a government scheme that provides tax breaks for employers providing staff with PCs, making it cheaper for employees to get home computers, while cutting National Insurance contributions for employers.

Telecommunications regulator Ofcom estimates average annual mobile phone costs £480 per user. According to BDO, this means a company with 1,000 mobile workers could save an estimated £61,400 a year by employing the tax scheme to their business.

According to BDO, users will be able to choose any handset running on any mobile phone network. The scheme also permits users to buy up to five phones out of their gross salary, provided they are for personal use or used by other household or family members.