'Fake snail farms' found in empty central offices as bizarre £370k tax avoidance scheme revealed
Building landlords have been accused of being "complicit" in the bogus scheme.
Empty London offices filled with boxes of snails have been discovered by a London council as officers uncovered a bizarre £370,000 tax avoidance scheme.
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Westminster City Council officers investigating property owners accused of tax avoidance made the discovery after “unscrupulous traders” in the West End tried to claim business rate exemptions.
They stumbled upon multiple of sealed boxes containing snails inside an empty Marylebone office block.
It is thought this was an attempt to avoid the payment of business rates (NNDR) by claiming a commercial property is a snail farm.
Tax laws in the country state that agricultural buildings and fish farms are exempt from paying business rates if they are deemed viable commercial businesses
The council says it has lost about £370,000 because of this tax avoidance scheme, accusing building landlords of being "complicit".
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Four so-called "snail farms" have been liquidated by Westminster City Council for failing to pay business rates, and council said it was attempting to shut down two more.
Council leader Adam Hug said legislation is needed so councils have the power to rapidly clamp down on tax avoidance scams instead of incurring legal costs.
He said: “This latest raid vividly illustrates an issue of business rates avoidance based on the ludicrous notion of snail farms which we have raised with central Government before.
“In the last fortnight we have discovered more boxes of snails in empty office buildings in Westminster so there is little sign of this racket slowing up.
“Rather than unscrupulous traders dropping on one avoidance scheme after another, it would be good to see a general clause on business rate avoidance and evasion which stops these kinds of activities in their tracks.
"As a local authority with limited resources, we enforce wherever we can. We will be on the trail of the snail racketeers or anyone else who thinks they can cheat the taxpayer.”