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If you've ever wandered past an empty shop and saw artfully arranged crates, it's a tax dodge

22 replies

Gingernaut · 05/12/2025 00:16

They are 'snail farms'

https://www.theguardian.com/news/ng-interactive/2025/dec/04/the-long-read-snail-farm-tax-avoidance-scheme-terry-ball

The state of empty offices and shops across the country is not getting any better and shit like fake charities, 'snail farms' and outright fraud is making everything worse

The snail farm don: is this the most brazen tax avoidance scheme of all time?

The long read: Terry Ball – renowned shoe salesman, friend to former mafiosi – has resolved to spend his last years finding ways to cheat authorities he feels have cheated him. His greatest ruse? A tax-dodging snail empire

https://www.theguardian.com/news/ng-interactive/2025/dec/04/the-long-read-snail-farm-tax-avoidance-scheme-terry-ball

OP posts:
EmeraldRoulette · 05/12/2025 01:31

Shell companies for snails... you kind of have to laugh.

editing to add - I thought they were mostly doing this in offices, and I don't think all the artfully arranged crates in shops seriously contain snails because why would they bother to arrange them artfully and put them in a window?

Gingernaut · 05/12/2025 01:47

EmeraldRoulette · 05/12/2025 01:31

Shell companies for snails... you kind of have to laugh.

editing to add - I thought they were mostly doing this in offices, and I don't think all the artfully arranged crates in shops seriously contain snails because why would they bother to arrange them artfully and put them in a window?

Edited

To prove it's a snail farm?

There have been quite a few shops here, in the West Midlands with crates dotted around the shop floor

OP posts:
Whywhywhyyyy · 05/12/2025 02:29

Why are they doing this.I don’t get the point

breezyyy · 05/12/2025 02:32

We are fucked. The UK is seriously fucked.

RawBloomers · 05/12/2025 05:09

Is this an urban legend? Not really understanding how they are supposed to be doing this (and that article was no help). Don’t you need planning permission to change land use from commercial to farming? So sticking a couple of crates in the window is surely not enough?

(Not that I’ve seen any artfully arranged crates in ship windows!)

RawBloomers · 05/12/2025 05:12

Whywhywhyyyy · 05/12/2025 02:29

Why are they doing this.I don’t get the point

The insinuation in the article seemed to be that they get to avoid business rates if the building is actually a farm.

Gingernaut · 05/12/2025 07:33

Whywhywhyyyy · 05/12/2025 02:29

Why are they doing this.I don’t get the point

Business rates aren't payable on farms

For a small fee, you can declare your empty building a 'farm', set up as a snail 'farmer' and you can avoid thousands in business rates

OP posts:
logsahc · 05/12/2025 07:43

Gingernaut · 05/12/2025 07:33

Business rates aren't payable on farms

For a small fee, you can declare your empty building a 'farm', set up as a snail 'farmer' and you can avoid thousands in business rates

But what are they then doing in the building?

Needtosoundoffandbreathe · 05/12/2025 07:45

I'm more concerned about the proliferation of mini marts on our local high street and potential connections with organised crime.

gogomomo2 · 05/12/2025 07:46

But they aren’t making money, renting it as a shop or office is always going to be better.

i think some of these so called dodgy shop schemes are not always true too, all the barbers in our town have queues for instance

Staybymw · 05/12/2025 07:48

I think the same with the expensive glasses frames only shops. Golborne road/ Portobello road there are two opposite each other, who goes in there? They are not normal opticians.

We call them Yuppy fronts. The equivalent of an American sweet shop.

PlazaAthenee · 05/12/2025 07:52

logsahc · 05/12/2025 07:43

But what are they then doing in the building?

Money laundering?

You can report dodgy shops to Crimestoppers. I've reported our no customer mini-marts.

logsahc · 05/12/2025 08:08

PlazaAthenee · 05/12/2025 07:52

Money laundering?

You can report dodgy shops to Crimestoppers. I've reported our no customer mini-marts.

I thought money laundering still required it to look like some kind of business for money to pass through the bank? (My understanding is limited to Breaking Bad so I have no idea!)

AnAlpacaForChristmasPleaseSanta · 05/12/2025 08:15

PlazaAthenee · 05/12/2025 07:52

Money laundering?

You can report dodgy shops to Crimestoppers. I've reported our no customer mini-marts.

Interesting.
My nearest town is not that big and pretty tumbleweedy these days but there are two nail bars right next to each other and a vape shop, non of which ever has any customers and I always wonder if there's something dodgy going on.

topcat2014 · 05/12/2025 08:17

Business rates are half the rent. Imagine paying council tax of half your mortgage. It is a "victimless" tax though so keeps going up.

EmeraldRoulette · 05/12/2025 08:54

Gingernaut · 05/12/2025 01:47

To prove it's a snail farm?

There have been quite a few shops here, in the West Midlands with crates dotted around the shop floor

There's a difference between being dotted around the shop floor and the artful displays I've seen in windows

Actually, now I've stopped to think about it, most of those did eventually get replaced by stock. But there was one particular place in London that had that empty window (with crates) for ages and I was amazed when it eventually did turn into a shop. But yeah, I guess they could've been paying reduced rates all that time. Seems a bit odd given that have had to pay a lease and stuff.

The reason I've seen so many of these is that I used to have a very long bus journey to work.

I must confess, I didn't get through the whole article - I googled what the issue was generally.

I keep meaning to read up on money laundering - for those who haven't read it, I'm not making a connection between snail farms and money laundering, but I do tend to link it up to this sort of scheme.

But yeah, the volume of crazy that's going on around here - the scale of corruption, no matter how small scale it may seem, I actually don't know how the UK is going to recover from all this? I suspect it isn't.

Gingernaut · 05/12/2025 09:13

logsahc · 05/12/2025 07:43

But what are they then doing in the building?

Not much - it's a way of saving money while they look for another tenant

OP posts:
breezyyy · 05/12/2025 09:24

Gingernaut · 05/12/2025 09:13

Not much - it's a way of saving money while they look for another tenant

I remember another thread some weeks ago about some shops being ‘fronts’ for dodgy dealings. Is this the same kind of operation?

logsahc · 05/12/2025 10:13

Gingernaut · 05/12/2025 09:13

Not much - it's a way of saving money while they look for another tenant

Oh I see, the owner of the building? Would business rates apply if a business wasn’t operating at the time? (Ie because it was between tenants)

Staybymw · 05/12/2025 14:57

logsahc · 05/12/2025 10:13

Oh I see, the owner of the building? Would business rates apply if a business wasn’t operating at the time? (Ie because it was between tenants)

In the article it said that Gordon Brown brought it in. The fact that they do have to pay rates whilst it is empty and that Michael Gove, who was in the opposition at the time, opposed it.

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