Crickhowell: Inside the Welsh town that took itself offshore in tax protest
Residents want to share their tax avoidance plan with other towns to force the treasury into closing tax loopholes
A small town in Wales is attempting to register its independent businesses as offshore companies to demonstrate how flawed they believe the British and international tax systems are.
By mimicking the methods multinational companies use to pay less tax in Britain, business owners in Crickhowell hope to protest against those who do not pay their fair share of tax.
Advised by experts and followed by a BBC camera crew, family-run shops in the Brecon Beacons town have submitted their own DIY tax plan to HMRC.
Residents want to share their tax avoidance plan with other towns, in a bid to force the treasury into legislation to close loopholes which allowed companies such as Amazon to pay just £11.9m in tax last year on £5.3bn of UK internet sales.
Samantha Devoss, joint-owner of the Number 18 Cafe, says: “It’s to make tax fair. That’s it. It’s simple.
“We just want a level playing field with the big corporations, we want them to pay their tax too.”
The documentary, presented by Heydon Prowse, co-producer of the BBC Three series The Revolution Will Be Televised, will be screened in 2016 as part of BBC Two’s Britain’s Black Economy season.
