Britain introduced repatriation taxes on money building up in tax havens. The upshot was that companies like Subway moved their headquarters, er, “headquarters” mail drop, to the Netherlands. A country that wasn’t a tax haven, but whose tax laws let them keep using tax havens for their British operations.
There was an excellent British TV show on this a few months back. A comedian rounded up several small business owners in one small town, where a single barista in a privately owned coffee shop was paying more income taxes than an entire popular coffee shop chain. The goal was to set them up to use the same tax dodges that the big companies use.
He helped them to set up a tax haven subsidiary on the Isle of Man. While there they tried to order coffee from the Starbucks mail drop. Then they went to the Netherlands to set up the “head office” there. While there they tried to order a meal from the Subway “head office” / mail drop.
It was worth watching.
