Save content
Have you found this content useful? Use the button above to save it to your profile.
AIA

VAT fraud losses 'five times worse in UK'. By Dan Martin

by
22nd Sep 2006
Save content
Have you found this content useful? Use the button above to save it to your profile.

The UK lost £8.4bn to VAT fraudsters between June 2005 and June 2006 ' five times more than any other EU country, the BBC has claimed.

The broadcaster said researchers working on 'Panorama' obtained a report from a Belgian taskforce whose estimates on the losses to so-called carousel fraud are much higher than the last published official UK estimates.

The study claimed that in the 12 months to June this year, £8.4bn can be attributed to the illegal practice. The figure is five times higher than the losses suffered by any other country in the EU. The closest country to the UK was Spain which lost £1.7bn followed by Italy at £1.5bn, Germany with £1.3bn and France which saw £1bn vanish as a result of the fraud.

Although the UK government, which estimates VAT fraud losses in 2004/05 were £1.9bn, rejected the figures, Belgian state secretary Herve Jamar told the BBC that Britain has a "unique problem".

"We've made these calculations using very specific criteria, based on data we've collected and based on risk analysis. As a result, we've achieved much more realistic figures," he said.

"And this work was done by police who specialise in tax fraud, in collaboration with other organisations. Our approach to this is therefore very objective."

Carousel fraud ' officially known as missing trader intra-community fraud - involves the repeated import and export of small, high value goods such as computer chips and mobile phones. Under European rules, a UK exporter does not have to VAT on the goods it sells but passes the charge on to the next British company to do so. Under the scam, before being re-imported, the goods are exported.

Tags:

Replies (0)

Please login or register to join the discussion.

There are currently no replies, be the first to post a reply.