Snail farms run out of central London offices in £370k TAX AVOIDANCE scheme.
29/10/2025
Westminster Council leader Adam Hug hit out at ‘unscrupulous traders’ using the ‘ludicrous’ scam.
- Boxes of snails have been found in empty central London offices by council officers investigating property owners allegedly avoiding tax.
- Crates of gastropods were discovered in the West End after “unscrupulous traders” attempted to claim business rate exemptions.
The traders say they are running “snail farms”,
- But teams from the council's revenues team rumbled the scheme when they went to office addresses in Old Marylebone Road.
- Under UK tax law, agricultural buildings and fish farms are exempt from paying business rates if they are viable commercial firms.
- To date, the council says it has lost about £368,000 due to the avoidance scheme.
Westminster has liquidated four such farms for non-payment of levies and the authority said it was trying to wind up a further two through a legal process.
Cllr Hug added:
- “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 rates 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.”
The “snail farm” scheme first appeared in Westminster about three years ago.
The council said it had also asked the Insolvency Service to consider banning the directors of these companies from any other future directorships.
SOURCE
The Team
Meet the team of industry experts behind Comsure
Find out moreLatest News
Keep up to date with the very latest news from Comsure
Find out moreGallery
View our latest imagery from our news and work
Find out moreContact
Think we can help you and your business? Chat to us today
Get In TouchNews Disclaimer
As well as owning and publishing Comsure's copyrighted works, Comsure wishes to use the copyright-protected works of others. To do so, Comsure is applying for exemptions in the UK copyright law. There are certain very specific situations where Comsure is permitted to do so without seeking permission from the owner. These exemptions are in the copyright sections of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended)[www.gov.UK/government/publications/copyright-acts-and-related-laws]. Many situations allow for Comsure to apply for exemptions. These include 1] Non-commercial research and private study, 2] Criticism, review and reporting of current events, 3] the copying of works in any medium as long as the use is to illustrate a point. 4] no posting is for commercial purposes [payment]. (for a full list of exemptions, please read here www.gov.uk/guidance/exceptions-to-copyright]. Concerning the exceptions, Comsure will acknowledge the work of the source author by providing a link to the source material. Comsure claims no ownership of non-Comsure content. The non-Comsure articles posted on the Comsure website are deemed important, relevant, and newsworthy to a Comsure audience (e.g. regulated financial services and professional firms [DNFSBs]). Comsure does not wish to take any credit for the publication, and the publication can be read in full in its original form if you click the articles link that always accompanies the news item. Also, Comsure does not seek any payment for highlighting these important articles. If you want any article removed, Comsure will automatically do so on a reasonable request if you email info@comsuregroup.com.
As well as owning and publishing Comsure's copyrighted works, Comsure wishes to use the copyright-protected works of others. To do so, Comsure is applying for exemptions in the UK copyright law. There are certain very specific situations where Comsure is permitted to do so without seeking permission from the owner. These exemptions are in the copyright sections of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended)[www.gov.UK/government/publications/copyright-acts-and-related-laws]. Many situations allow for Comsure to apply for exemptions. These include 1] Non-commercial research and private study, 2] Criticism, review and reporting of current events, 3] the copying of works in any medium as long as the use is to illustrate a point. 4] no posting is for commercial purposes [payment]. (for a full list of exemptions, please read here www.gov.uk/guidance/exceptions-to-copyright]. Concerning the exceptions, Comsure will acknowledge the work of the source author by providing a link to the source material. Comsure claims no ownership of non-Comsure content. The non-Comsure articles posted on the Comsure website are deemed important, relevant, and newsworthy to a Comsure audience (e.g. regulated financial services and professional firms [DNFSBs]). Comsure does not wish to take any credit for the publication, and the publication can be read in full in its original form if you click the articles link that always accompanies the news item. Also, Comsure does not seek any payment for highlighting these important articles. If you want any article removed, Comsure will automatically do so on a reasonable request if you email info@comsuregroup.com.