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
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.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.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments