A slimy scheme to avoid property tax
Unlike their French neighbours, Britons tend to be sniffy about eating snails. But there is a new fad involving the delectable gastropods that Brits do have a taste for: tax avoidance.
The scheme is both slimy and simple. When a commercial property is vacated a landlord becomes liable for its taxes, known as business rates. To avoid them (a 5,000-square-foot office in central London might owe £12,000, or $16,000, a month), some landlords turn their offices into “farms”. Boxes of live snails are purchased at £14 each and the property is claimed to be an agricultural unit—exempt from business rates.
Urban snail farms are seen by local authorities and the courts as a sham. One venture in Liverpool had 15 boxes with as few as two snails each. Adam Hug of Westminster City Council says it is hard to stop such behaviour because the schemes are run by agents hiding behind shell companies. After a court finds the “farm” illegitimate, the business simply declares itself insolvent and the tax liability must be written off.
The Economist. Annoying, isn’t it?