The Deputy Leader of the UK’s Reform Party has been accused of tax avoidance – with national newspapers naming Guernsey in their reports.
The Sunday Times claimed Richard Tice has avoided paying nearly £600,000 in corporation tax. It said that he used a Real Estate Investment Trust, listed on The International Stock Exchange to do that.
Further national media coverage has linked Mr Tice with the island and TISE – with the Labour Party now calling for an investigation into his financial affairs.
Some newspapers have incorrectly called TISE the ‘Guernsey stock exchange’, which does not exist.
Express understands that the controversy relates to Mr Tice’s involvement with Quidnet Reit which is a UK based company, registered in London, with a portfolio of mainly industrial properties covering more than 344,000 sq ft.
It is registered on The International Stock Exchange, which is headquartered in Guernsey, but the regime for UK Real Estate Investment Trusts is operated by the UK’s own tax authority, HMRC.
In a letter to HMRC, the Labour Party’s Chair, Anna Turley has called for an investigation into Mr Tice’s involvement with Quidnet, accusing him and his company of abusing the REIT process – which HMRC regulates.
In turn, Mr Tice has told the Guardian that is a smear against his character.
The newspaper quoted him as saying that he has only done what many other people do to ensure they pay the minimum tax possible.
Mr Tice denied that Reit schemes are specialist or beyond the use of less rich taxpayers, saying anyone could invest in them, reports the Guardian.
REITS
Real Estate Investment Trusts are companies that own, operate, or finance real estate developments. This can include commercial properties as well as residential developments, including social housing.
Most REITs are public companies that trade on stock exchanges. They have historically provided investors with regular income streams.
REITs vary and can include Equity and Mortgage based REITS or a hybrid version. This means property owners can hold income producing real estate such as warehouses or apartments which are rented out, or manage investment opportunities while borrowing money or buying mortgage-backed securities. Hybrid REITs are a combination of both.
The UK’s HMRC operates the regime for UK based Real Estate Investment Trusts.
Under the UK’s Finance Act 2012, a REIT has a three-year grace period before having to comply with close company rules.
A previous qualifying condition for the UK REIT regime was that a company must be listed on a HMRC recognised stock exchange. That has been changed, meaning that if a company meets certain other conditions it does not need to be listed on a stock exchange to be considered a UK REIT. This means there are private (non-listed) UK REITs, but many are still listed on various stock exchanges, including TISE.
TISE
The International Stock Exchange, which is headquartered in Guernsey, currently has 4,818 listings (December 2025) – and of those, just 41 are UK based REITs.
While that means the number of UK REITs listed with TISE is less than 1% of its total listings, the 41 REITs listed locally is higher than any other market including the London Stock Exchange.
Quidnet can be listed on TISE irrespective of its position regarding UK REIT status which is a regime operated by HMRC.