Britain's Offshore Secrets Exposed Panorama

Tonight on Panorama: More

revelations from the leak that's

shocking the world, the Paradise

Papers. What do you to our viewers

who pay their tax? The secrets of

the rich and wealthy laid bare.

I

don't know how they haven't been

caught yet. Maybe after this

programme they will be.

The Paradise

Papers show how Britain's off shore

empire helps the rich and powerful

dodge tax. You have an

non-transparent system

We do not

have a non-transparent system.

I

can't see it.

You don't count.

How

we're all losing out because of it.

Every time they close a school in

your neighbourhood. Every time they

have to close a hospital, a lot of

that happens because rich

individuals and corporations are not

paying their fair share of the costs

of society.

We expose the British

tax havens happy to help people beat

the taxman. Will you apologise, if a

law was changed here to help tax

dodgers?

If that has happened as

you're stating, yes, I will

apologise.

We've found a new tax

dodge used by the world's most

profitable company.

You can see them

as this fantastically innovative IT

company but you can also see them as

a fantastically innovative tax

dodger.

We confront the millionaires

hiding their wealth offshore. Were

you dodging tax? And the

internationally famous comedian who

told Panorama to (BLEEP) off. After

we found that actors on his show

were dodging tax. Can you tell me

about your taxes, you get paid in

Mauritius, what's all that about?

It was a big summer in Bermuda, the

world's most prestigious yachting

race, the America's Cup came to the

islands. One of the sponsors is now

at the centre of one of the biggest

data leaks in history, Appleby. When

awe rife, one of the world's most

prestigious sporting events, you're

greeted with an array of flags of

all the sponsors of the right in the

middle is Appleby. This event is not

mass market. This is a high end

event. People here are, the

sponsored are elite and working

companies, in the middle of them is

Appleby. Appleby is one of the most

successful off-shore firms in the

world. And the America's Cup

attracts the sort of wealthy clients

it works with. New Zealand have won,

I think.

While we are in Bermuda, we have to

keep our investigations secret.

We're here because almost seven

million documents have been leaked

from Appleby. We can now see what

they and their clients do. You have

to be very careful at this stage of

the investigation. Because Appleby

don't know that we have their data.

Appleby's documents were obtained by

the German newspaper, they've been

shared with the international

consortium of investigative

journalists, including Panorama and

the Guardian newspaper. The

revelations from the Paradise Papers

have already sent shock waves around

the world. We've revealed the

Queen's off-shore investments. How a

former Tory treasurer could face a

tax bill of tens of millions after

ignoring financial rules. And the

questions for the Premier League

about the billionaire and his links

to two of Britain's biggest clubs.

But there is much more in the

documents. Tonight, we uncover some

of the secrets of Britain's

off-shore empire.

This is the Isle of Man, we're here

to investigate a multimillion pound

tax dodge that attracts the rich and

famous from around the world am --

world. The Isle of Man is a Crown

dependency, the UK Government is

ultimately responsible, but this

island can provide a special

service. This is the place to come

if you want to dodge tax on your

luxury jet.

All these different tax

havens in the world, they carve out

a niche for themselves. There's so

many things they can specialise in.

Being the jurisdiction of choice to

register a jet. To register a yacht

or family business. That's how

they're competing. It's part of what

makes off shore so complicated.

There are almost a thousand private

jets registered here. When you or I

buy most goods, we have to pay 20%

VAT. But here on the Isle of Man,

they're going out of their way to

help the super rich dodge that tax

on their luxury planes. Take four

times world champion Lewis Hamilton.

In 2013, he made a dream purchase.

This is your plane.

If I get a plane

I'm going to pimp it out.

Paint it

red, yeah.

Exactly.

It was handy for

his jet set life style and obviously

to visit his then girlfriend, pop

star Nicole Scherzinger.

He's the

best in the world, so I trust him.

It cost £16 million. That meant a 3.

£3.3 million VAT bill. And that's

where the Isle of Man comes in. This

is how the tax dodge worked. The jet

is owned by Lewis Hamilton's company

in the Caribbean. It leases the jet

to a new company, owned by Lewis

Hamilton in the Isle of Man. So

that's Lewis Hamilton renting his

own jet to himself. Then it's leased

it a leasing company, he doesn't

own, that provides a crew and

maintenance. They then lease it back

to Mr Hamilton, that's him renting

his own jet back. Hey presto, a 3.

£3.3 million VAT refund.

It's the

artificiality of the scheme that

should raise suspicions. From the

moment that you see the

artificiality of it, you should ask

questions about what is the

motivation in this particular case.

Questions would be raised on whether

this is indeed a proper business for

VAT purposes, in which case refund

should not have been granted.

Lewis Hamilton's lawyers told us he

had a set of professionals in place

who run most aspects of his business

operations. And they said, Isle of

Man customs gave informed approval

to the scheme. But we don't think

that his deal complies with EU and

UK tax rules. It's because of the

personal use. To get his tax dodge,

Lewis Hamilton had to fly his jet

here to the Isle of Man just once.

He came here in 2012, with his then

girlfriend. Our documents show that

Customs and Excise here were happy

to come in at 6am to sign off on the

VAT deal. Lewis Hamilton's lawyers

told us the structures were not

unlawful and do not constitute

abusive practice. The VAT rules

about the business use of jets are

incredibly complicated. But if you

use your plane for fun, you have to

pay VAT.

I can't believe I have my

own plane still, after all these

years.

Well, look at this post -

Lewis Hamilton is quite open that

his jet is being used for fun. Now

even though it's mostly used for

business, he shouldn't have got a

full refund.

If they're using it for

private purposes, the fact that all

this money is being refunded is

quite shocking. You should not be

getting VAT back if it's private

usage and you're getting VAT back.

We have found 50 schemes like Lewis

Hamilton's in the documents. We've

seen millions being handed out in

VAT refunds to oligarchs and sports

stars, who are clearly going to use

their jets for private use. How on

earth can that possibly be allowed

to happen?

We only accept cases for

the refund of VAT on jets if it's

for 100% business use.

We have seen

cases where it's clearly going to be

used privately.

I look forward to

you providing me with that evidence.

Well, here's the evidence. Our

documents show Isle of Man customs

knew that jets were being used for

personal use. And customs have since

confirmed, as long as it was

predominantly business use, they

gave refunds any way. We've

discovered that Appleby's office on

the Isle of Man has imported luxury

jets worth 1. £1.25 billion, so some

of the wealthiest people on the

planet have avoided a small fortune

in tax. In total, the Isle of Man

has handed out more than £790

million in VAT refunds to jet

leasing companies. As a result of

Panorama's investigation, it's now

called in the British Government to

review its procedures. They're

approved on the Isle of Man.

VAT

rules and regulations on corporate

jets are highly complex. I genuinely

feel that you have missed the point.

We are concerned about your

allegations, so we've said right,

what's the best thing to do to show

we have nothing to hide, we're an

honest and transparent jurisdiction

- let's ask HM treasury will they

come in, review, assess I should

say, our practice of importation of

business jets into the EU via the

Isle of Man and let's see what

they've got to say.

The British

Government declined to be

interviewed for this programme. But

one of the revelations of the

Paradise Papers is the role this

country plays in an industry that

hides hundreds of billions off

shore. Appleby has offices in tax

havens around the world. Most have

links to Britain.

The UK has a kind

of network of tax havens around the

world that are partly British, like

the overseas territories, Cayman

Islands and so on, and the Crown

dependencies. You could say this is

like a second financial empire,

second empire of Britain. These

places are effectively jurisdictions

for sale. They will do what it

takes.

The Isle of Man became a tax haven

in the 1980s when farming and

tourism declined.

It does not seem

ethical to my mind and it does not

seem healthy and sustainable in the

long rant and it will nibble away at

the island's reputation.

A third of

the island's economy is financial

services.

You can see that around as

there are signs for HSBC and

Barclays Bank down there. Athol

Street here, you have got Appleby, a

big legal firm, a big player. And

very close to all this

geographically and hand in glove

with the offshore finance industry

is the government here.

This close

relationship is what tax havens

offer.

They can influence the

politicians, and very often they

will just write the laws at

themselves and presented to these

tax havens and say, please, put this

in your legislation, which is

profoundly dangerous for other

countries that are affected by this.

And there is an example in the

Paradise Papers of how unhealthy

this relationship can be. We have

found evidence that shows just how

far the Isle of Man government has

been prepared to go to help tax

dodgers. It is all about a law that

was aimed at stopping tax evaders.

The most serious tax dodgers who

break the law. The European savings

directive meant if you had your

money in a bag anywhere in Europe it

would be taxed.

The European savings

directive was intended to put a stop

to some forms of cross-border tax

evasion.

In our documents there is a

scheme designed to undermine that

plan and that would help people

evading tax. But for it to work, the

Isle of Man's laws had to be

changed. The scheme needed approval

by the Isle of Man regulator. You

might think getting approval for

something that could help tax

evaders would prove difficult, but

not on the Isle of Man. We have got

a letter from the lawyers to the

regulator, whose job is to make sure

the rules are followed. Just listen

to the language. If you believe it

would be helpful for us to provide

you with ideas as to how to amend

the regulations in order to more

readily accord with our client's

proposal, please let Simon or myself

know. It sounds like they are saying

if you want help drafting this new

law that could assist tax evaders,

we will do it for you. The regulator

does draft a new law and asks for

the opinions of the lawyers. Let me

show you this e-mail. I would be

particularly interested in any

comments that you and or Simon have

in this regard.

I have heard about

these things happening, I have never

seen at this level of detail the

transaction, the handoff that goes

on, where the wealth manager or the

representative said, we want you to

do this with the law, and the public

official says right, done, here it

is.

In Switzerland we found the man

who drew up the scheme. Now, he

agreed to talk to us, but he does

not know we have seen his plan. I

want to show you something. This is

a very clever scheme to avoid the

European savings directive. I think

you drew this up.

Would you talk us

through this? This was many years

ago, it must have been about ten

years ago.

This looks like a plan

designed to help people if they'd

tax, is that right?

It is either to

evade tax or keep privacy.

It is the

Isle of Man changing their own laws

so this scheme to help tax evaders

can work, isn't it?

I would agree,

yes.

That is amazing to me. What

should our viewers make of you

drawing up schemes to help people

break the law?

Well, every tax

adviser, they stick within the law.

This was not illegal.

To be crystal

clear, the regulator would have been

well aware that by changing the law

it would encourage schemes that

allow people to skip EST and evade

tax?

Yes.

We are not talking about

some distant country. The Isle of

Man is part of the British Isles.

This is where that law was changed.

Here it is, the new law. It will

help tax evaders, it is approved by

the Isle of Man Parliament. So what

would the Chief Minister say about

the regulator who helped change the

law?

I do not believe it has

happened, but if it has, we will

investigate.

It happened on this

island.

Let's look at the evidence

so far. If it happened, I would be

disappointed. Given the opportunity

to look at the evidence, let my team

go away, investigate and we will

take action if it is proven.

Will

you apologise if the law was changed

here to help tax avoidance?

If it is

what you are stating, yes, I will

apologise on behalf of the Isle of

Man government because we are risk

bonds will tax jurisdiction and we

do not condone anything like that.

The regulator who got the law

changed will not answer our

questions, so I went to pay David

Lake MBE visit. Hello, I am Richard

Bilton from the BBC. Can I ask you a

question? Did you change the law to

help tax dodgers?

That is a comment

to the Financial Services Authority

's.

You should help us, you changed

the law.

I have got nothing to say.

I told your colleague to contact the

Financial Services Authority.

What

you say to our viewers who pay their

tax?

No comment, the responsibility

was transferred to the Financial

Services Authority, contact them. I

have got nothing to say.

The last

word to our viewers.

Contact the

FSA.

I wonder what they will make of

that. Thank you. That is a man who

helped to change the law so people

could dodge tax. Now I put the

questions to him and he does not

want to answer. Not all tax dodgers

break the law, but the files show

the outrageous way some wealthy

Brits abuse offshore to hide their

riches. We have found a home network

of astonishing tax dodgers. They are

run by a tax lawyer, James O'Toole.

He actually owns this holiday

cottage and we are going to stay

here and use it as a base as we

investigate his tax dodging empire.

But he has got more than just a

cottage here. Tax dodging can be a

lucrative game. Around the back of

his cottage all of this over here,

this is all Mr O'Toole's as well.

This is Mr O'Toole's would. This is

his field. This is Mr O'Toole's

walled garden. This is Mr O'Toole's

orchard. This is Mr O'Toole's house.

His estate manager said we could not

look around because Mr O'Toole is

not here. He has got another

property in the Seychelles. That is

quite a grand room. He likes luxury.

There have been two Aston Martins, a

range Rover, a Harley Davidson and a

Rolex watch. So, how does Mr O'Toole

had all this stuff? Well, it is to

do with offshore. James O'Toole may

have spent millions on his house, he

may have driven around in the luxury

cars and warned the elegant,

expensive jewellery, but as far as

the UK taxman is concerned, he does

not own any of it. This is how it

works. Mr O'Toole gives his fortune

away, it goes into an offshore

company. He does not have to pay tax

any more because it is officially no

longer his money. But he is then

appointed to advise on how the money

should be spent. And he can carry on

enjoying their houses, the Aston

Martins, the range Rover, the

Harley. He even gets a personal

shopper to pick up birthday cards,

by a blender, book a spa, buy shoes,

pay for his limousine and suggest

Mother's Day presents.

I think HMRC

would take a pretty dim view because

he distressing up his affairs as

something they are not and he is a

tax expert. So he should know a lot

better. I think he must know that it

would not withstand scrutiny.

James

O'Toole's lawyer said our

allegations are ill judged and not

supported by any relevant evidence.

And that Mr O'Toole had prepared a

detailed and rigorous rebuttal, but

is not in a position to engage with

our programme. Mr O'Toole does not

just dodge his own taxes. He runs

companies that help other wealthy

Brits do it as well. There are over

100 of them in our documents.

Hello

and welcome, you are watching your

first life coaching television

channel.

Meet this actor, model and

life coach.

With the right mental

attitude and discipline everything

is possible.

She has applied that

philosophy to the tax laws. She has

almost a million stashed in her

company in Mauritius. She gets cash

back to the UK by borrowing it from

herself.

I wish you to live the life

that brings millions and love to you

and people around you.

But the

evidence in the files shows these

were not normal loans. She was not

paying interest or the loans back.

It is a tax dodge.

In most

countries, certainly in the UK, you

are a tax on income and when you

borrow money that is an income. If I

borrow £10 for new, I would not have

to put £10 income on my tax return.

Where it is a pretence, a sham, as

it appears to be in these cases, it

does not work. It is your income and

you should still be taxed on it.

Time to catch up with the life

coach. My name is Richard Bilton and

I work for BBC Panorama. I am

interested in borrowing some money

but I do not want to pay it back,

can you help? You can't? Hello? She

has gone. She has gone. She later

told as she always acted on

professional advice and said the

loans were repayable. She said, to

the best of my knowledge I have

never had money or assets in an

offshore structure. So, what is

this? We found a letter advising her

on the creation of an offshore

structure in Mauritius. It is a tax

avoidance scheme and her signature

is at the bottom. Our next James

O'Toole client makes his money from

cold calls and direct marketing.

I

am the founder and managing director

of GCL direct.

We think he has been

sending his money offshore.

And

everyone is happy.

I was wondering

if you had ever been involved in any

offshore tax avoidance schemes? When

I called him Mr Crowder denied

dodging any tax. So, what is this? A

tax dodging loan of £150,000 with

his name on it. He and his wife went

to fancy resource as well, paid for

with the secret, not taxed cash, all

listed as investments trips. A

fortnight in Barbados in 2014, a

week in Florida at Christmas, in

April back to Barbados, and again in

October. And last year St John has

for the weekend by private jet. --

central pay. We have been in this

village or afternoon trying to find

Mr Crowder and it got dark and we

were going to go and we saw him in

the pub. He was quick to get away.

You said you did not know anything

about offshore and that was not

true, was it? Tell us your side

because you had £1 million in an

offshore bank account. You have had

a pint, tell us your side of the

story. Were you dodging tax? Hey! Mr

Crowder's lawyers later told us he

is reliant on reputable,

professional advisers. They said,

our story had a number of factual

inaccuracies, but because he was not

a tax expert he was not able to

comment further.

If you want to hide your tax, you do

not have to choose Mauritius or the

Isle of Man. There are British tax

havens all around the world. They

are self-governing but ultimately we

in the UK have control. Take

Bermuda, where Appleby started. It

likes to present itself as the

acceptable face of offshore. This is

a place that attracts people because

of its civilised nature, it is

respectable, it has close links to

the UK. It is a British Overseas

Territory, the Queen is the head of

state. Before they knew about the

league, the government told us

Bermuda was clean.

We are regulated

very well and it has been recognised

internationally. One of the big

difference that differentiates

Bermuda to other countries like

yours is we just do not accept

anybody to do business in Bermuda.

So we screen people and if you do

not pass the criteria, then we say,

you can go somewhere else because

you are not coming here.

But the

documents showed the regulation

often fails. Look at this

presentation for Appleby staff. It

says there is systemic

noncompliance, which means rules are

being broken. No risk assessment,

which means dodgy cases might be

getting through.

Appleby told us it takes compliance

very seriously. The fact that

weaknesses were found, candidly

reported, addressed and improved

upon reflects the importance we

attach to this area. For

confidentiality reasons they say

they can't comment on clients. They

say Appleby does not specialise in

tax and would play no role in

advising on the tax advantages or

disadvantages of any particular

structure. There are dozens of

companies like Appleby in Bermuda,

all helping wealthy people and

companies avoid tax. And this is

just one island. Worldwide, the tax

losses are enormous.

It's making the

rich richer while the poor get

poorer. Every time they close a

school in your neighbourhood, every

time they shut down a bus line,

every time they have to close a

hospital, a lot of that happens

because rich individuals and

corporations are not paying their

fair share of the costs of society.

How much money is being lost to the

taxpayer?

We're talking billions.

Worldwide estimates range quite

widely, we're talking 300 to $600

billion a year lost to tax

authorities around the world to the

benefit of multinational

corporations.

No wonder in Bermuda

they don't like being called a tax

haven. The problem with a tax haven

is somebody else -

Excuse me.

I'm

not accusing you, Sir.

Be careful.

Oxfam said you were the number one

tax haven in the world.

Oxfam are

wrong.

Why?

A tax haven is a place

that A, hides money, doesn't

cooperate with other jurisdictions

and enables basically financial

crime, terrorist financing and those

sorts of things.

You have a

non-transparent system.

We do not

have a non-transparent system.

I

can't see it.

Well, you don't count.

Transparency, for it to be

transparent, it means everybody can

look through it.

No, it does not.

It

isn't just British tax havens

helping tax dodgers. Britain is

doing it too. We are the hub of the

tax dodging empire.

Here in Germany, they're losing tax

revenue because of what we're doing.

A tax rule, introduced in 2013,

allowed big companies to use the UK

to avoid tax. Take this hotel chain,

couldn't be more German. But its

finances are arranged through the

Isle of Man and in doing that, they

save millions in taxes. This is how

it works: The hotels were taken over

by a UK company. It boar rows a

large sum of cash and has to pay

interest. So profits in the UK go

down, which means less tax for us.

The cash is invested in an Isle of

Man company, which then lends it to

the German hotel chain. They also

pay interest, so their profits go

down as well. That's less tax in

Germany too. The German profits end

up in the Isle of Man, no tax.

In the past, this wouldn't have

worked. The UK used to tax these

kind of tax schemes at full rate.

Not any more. Under the new rules,

it's now just 4%.

While the

Government says it's against tax

avoidance and shifting profits

around, when you look into the

detail of the rules, you find that

there are opportunities for

multinational companies to do

exactly that.

The travel company

Holiday Break said their business

affairs are conducted within the tax

regulations and disclosure

requirements of the countries we

operate in. But the European Union

has just started an investigation

into the UK's tax rules, introduced

by the coalition Government.

The

reality is that they were constantly

introducing new rules to make

Britain a tax haven of the world.

This was a deliberate change brought

in by the Government to help global

companies do nothing other than

avoid paying their fair share of

tax.

The Government said today new

transparency laws were being

introduced and all the British

territories have signed up.

This

Government believes in a fair tax

system where everyone plays by the

rules. It is this Government that

has taken decisive action to tackle

tax avoidance and evasion and who

improve the standards of

international tax transparency.

Welcome to Cannes in the south of

France. It's the royal regatta. A

chance to sail a classic yacht or

just enjoy the spectacle. This yacht

is the Leonore. It's the play thing

of Brits Harriet Logan and Mark

Faulkner. Here's Mark celebrating

victory in a race four years ago.

Mark and Harriet have full use of

this luxury yacht but they don't

officially own it. It's how they

live their lives. They have all the

trappings of wealth, but they don't

officially own them. Sound familiar?

That's because they've signed up to

one of James O'Toole's tax dodging

schemes. Mark and Harriet gave their

fortune away. It goes it a company

in Mauritius. But they were then

appointed advisors on how the money

should be spent. They advise the

company to buy them a country

mansion, two properties in London

and an Aston Martin. The off-shore

company even spent £100,000 a year

funding Mark and Harriet's yacht, so

they could enjoy racing at regattas

around the world, like this one. ?

Mark and Harriet also have a home in

Cannes. Is Mr Falconer in?

No, we

rent the house.

You rent it, do you

know where he is?

England, I think.

I guess.

You're the crew of the

boat, aren't you?

No, we use the

boat but we don't... It's a

private... Team.

Private team.

What's Mr Falconer's relationship

with the boat?

I don't know, why,

excuse me?

I'm a reporter, but he's

sometimes on the boat, isn't he?

No,

no.

I've seen pictures of him on the

boat.

I don't know.

With you, in

fact.

Yes, but he's not with us.

He's not with you. OK, Sir. I've

seen that gentleman in some of the

pictures celebrating with Mr

Falconer. I know that they have

sailed together. What he has told me

is that they've rented this house

from an agency and that Mr Falconer

is not here, and that he's in

England.

When you get to this level

of tax avoidance, then you're

getting to the point where everybody

else is subsidising your luxury

lifestyle. As you're cruising on

your yacht, there's somebody whose

benefits have been cut who's paying

for that. I suspect they know that.

But when I reach Mark on the phone,

he denies everything. I understand

you use an offshore structure to

avoid tax, is that right? Due put

money into a Mauritius company to

avoid tax? Oh. That's just not true

then. But the documents show it is.

Here Harriet suggests the company

spend £2 million for her collection

of iconic photographs and art. And

up to £200,000 for fine and rare

wines. So this is one couple and

they say, we want iconic photographs

and art worth 2 million...

It's

staggering!

200 grand for a classic

car. We'd like a collection of rare

wines, which they say they may have

to sample.

This is unevasive. It's

clear avoidance at the very least.

To have such an interest in what the

trust is doing to the extent that

you live in the home, that you drink

the wine and choose the pictures,

this is not someone having - this is

someone having very, very personal

benefit from it and it looks like a

straightforward vehicle to avoid

having to say that you own those

properties. How they're getting away

with it, I don't know.

They got away

with it because until the Paradise

Papers, nobody knew. The couple's

lawyers told us that while they did

not accept our assertions they have

commenced dialogue with HMRC to

review the arrangements that their

previous advisors had recommended.

It's not just wealthy individuals.

We've looked at one of the great tax

avoidance mysteries, what the

world's most profitable company did

when its infamous multibillion tax

dodge was shut down. We know what

happened next.

For years, Apple has

opted to forgo fully contributing to

the US treasury and to American

society by shifting profits and

circumventing US taxes.

It's already

known that Apple has an incredible

$252 billion stashed off shore, much

of it completely untaxed.

We pay all

the taxes we owe, every single

dollar. We not only comply with the

laws, but we comply with the spirit

of the laws.

For years, Apple took

advantage of a special deal offered

by the Irish Government. They were

allowed to set up companies that,

apart from a small amount in

Ireland, didn't have to pay tax

anywhere else in the world. It was a

good deal forran companile. -- for

Apple. Apple makes huge profits,

more than $241 billion outside the

US in just 11 years. The Irish deal

meant that Apple could avoid almost

all the tax. In fact, they paid less

than 5% tax on profits outside of

America. But in 2014, Ireland was

pressured into changing the rules,

so Apple started shopping around.

The documents showed the cynical way

Apple searched for a tax dodging

deal. The key concern seems to be

that they will not pay tax in their

new home. It asks the tax haven to

confirm that they can conduct

management activities without being

subject to taxation. And they ask is

it possible to obtain an official

assurance of tax exemption? Some of

the questions are shocking. This one

is for the Isle of Man and they ask

Appleby, is there a credible

opposition party or movement that

would replace the current

government. Appleby say no. I am not

sure what the people of the Isle of

Man would make of that summary. But

this was Apple trying to find the

safest tax haven for the hundreds

and millions of dollars that they

had stashed offshore. This is

shopping around for the best deal

they can get in tax havens.

It is a

bit like someone looking for a venue

for a wedding. They have got certain

questions they want answered. What

jumps out at you? The Isle of Man

answers the question whether there

is a credible opposition party and

says, no. It seems quite proud of

that. It is saying, do not worry,

there is no democracy here.

Political parties do exist, but

their influence is nominal.

That is

very reassuring.

In the end Apple

chose another tax haven in the

British Isles. Jersey. And we have

discovered that two of the companies

involved in Apple's Irish tax scheme

were moved here for tax purposes. We

believe they are both managed from

this Appleby office, which means

they both pay the jersey rate of tax

on profits and that is no tax at

all. It is completely secret, but

very important for taxpayers around

the world. Billions may be at stake.

Hello, I just want to talk to

somebody who looks after the Appleby

company. I want some answers about

this crucial account. Apple

Operations International and Apple

Sales International are both based

here?

The Appleby organisation is

based here.

No, the Apple company.

Appleby have got nothing to do with

that.

They have got two companies

based here?

I would have to check

that out.

He is going to clarify. It

takes a while. He goes away for 15

minutes.

I am speaking on behalf of

of Appleby and we had no knowledge

of Apple in this building.

Apple

Sales International and Apple

Operations International, you cannot

find anybody in the office who knows

about that?

From an Appleby

perspective, yes.

The answer is we

do not know?

From an Appleby

perspective, we have no knowledge of

that.

Thank you very much indeed,

thank you for your patience.

Goodbye. So, after quite a long

delay and wake the message came back

we do not know about those

companies, we cannot find anybody in

the office who knows about Apple

Sales International or Apple

Operations International. It is so

secret that even the people in the

office do not know about it. That is

what he is saying. But our documents

showed the two Apple companies were

administered from these offices

until last year. Now, Apple declined

to answer our questions but said as

the largest taxpayer in the world we

have paid over $35 billion in

corporate income taxes over the past

three years. They add, the changes

we made did not reduce our tax

payments in any country. This year,

Apple paid tax of just 3.7% on its

non-US profits. That is less than

the sake of the average corporation

tax rate.

You can see them as this

fantastically innovative IT company,

but you can also see them as a

fantastically innovative tax dodger.

They seem to be leading the world

and they have come up with the

latest tax dodging product.

Back at my holiday home it is time

to put my feet up and relax.

Ladies

and gentlemen, welcome to Mrs

Brown's Boys.

Mrs Brown's Boys is

one of the most popular shows on the

BBC. It is made by the production

company owned by the programme's

star, Brendan O'Carroll.

Do you want

a cup of tea? Yes, please, what is

art?

But we have discovered some of

the actors are stashing their fees

or wages offshore. They include

Patrick Houlihan who plays Mrs

Brown's son, Dermot.

You could have

stayed in bed a bit longer.

And

Brendan O'Carroll's real-life

daughter, Fiona Delany. And her

husband, Martin Delany. It is one of

James O'Toole's tax dodgers. This is

how it works. The actors get their

wages sent offshore, tax-free. The

cash ends up in a company in

Mauritius and the actors are

recruited as investment managers.

They advise that the money is loaned

straight to their personal bank

accounts, no tax. Take Fiona Delany,

in just 16 months her Mauritian

company lent her over £360,000. It

is just the way of disguising her

income. I just wondered how pure

wages ever been paid offshore? I

want to know did your wages go to a

company in Mauritius and then you

got the cash back in loans? Is that

right as I understand it? Oh, so

Fiona talked for a while and said

that she did not think she did have

any offshore deals. When I gave her

a few more details she ran off. We

found that three actors from a

famous BBC TV show sent their wages

offshore and then they learn that

money back to themselves in order to

pay no income tax.

I am shocked by

that because that is not playing by

any fair rules. Do they pay the loan

back?

The evidence is that they do

not.

That is a dodge.

Are you

surprised it still goes on?

I am

shocked how they have not been

caught yet. Maybe after this

programme they will be.

Fiona Delany

has not responded to our e-mails. So

I have come to BBC Scotland where

they are filming Mrs Brown's Boys.

Hello, Fiona, it is Richard Bilton

from Panorama. Can I grab a quick

word with you? I called you a few

weeks ago. You get paid in

Mauritius, don't you? What is that

about? Do you pay the loan back? Is

it a tax dodge?

I do not know who

you are.

I am from Panorama and you

are from Mrs Brown's Boys and you

are a tax dodger. That is not funny

at all, is it? But what about the

show's star, Brendan O'Carroll?

You

do not want Panorama for company.

He

told us he pays the actors were a

company in the UK and cannot control

what happens afterwards and has

never been involved with any tax

avoiding scheme. Brendan O'Carroll

said, I reserve the right to take

the most severe legal action

available to me. That is lawyer

speak. I would have just said

(BLEEP) off.

The Paradise Papers have revealed

the secrets of Britain's tax dodging

empire.

It is bad for the reputation

of the Commonwealth and the UK. We

have got to see a clamp-down to stop

these loopholes and to stop these

jurisdictions doing what they are

doing.

How we help big companies and

the super-rich avoid paying their

fair share.

I think most people

would think there is something wrong

here. They are paying higher taxes

as a result of these people paying

lower taxes and these people are all

incredibly wealthy.

The documents

have pulled back the curtain on the

offshore world and those who use it.

I guess at some level everyone wants

to be able to do as they please and

not have anybody be their boss,

including the state. What offshore

provides is a place where you can do

that.

Britain's offshore empire is a

place where the rich and powerful

save money at our expense. Now that

shady world has been dragged into

the light. It is hard to imagine it

will not be forced to change.