Man Alive

Getting Away With It All (1975x15)

Air date: May 08, 1975

It has been called Bermuda without the sun, the Bahamas without the Mafia. The Channel island of Guernsey, a rock in the middle of the English Channel, is not exactly sun-kissed, but it does have a climate favourable for tomatoes, tourists - and tax; an island where the Chancellor does not surface annually with new implements to make the pips squeak; where the tax rate is steady - a modest 20 per cent. Unlike neighbouring Jersey, Guernsey does not have a quota system and income regulations for its immigrants. But there is one small hurdle: only certain houses in what is called ' the open market' can be bought by would-be emigres. They are few and bieathtakingly expensive. Jeremy James has been talking to those who bought relief from taxes; about the morality of going; the cost of tearing up roots and trying to buy peace of mind.