Industry News

New clampdown on carousel fraud

New rules to combat carousel fraud may be introduced as early as October 2006. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) says it is planning to change the system for collecting Value Added Tax (VAT) on certain imported electronic goods.

The tax system will be altered so that VAT will only be collected when items are sold by a retailer.

The change should remove the chance for criminals to charge retailers VAT on imported items only to deliberately fail to hand the tax over to HMRC.

So-called carousel fraud has boomed in the last few years, and according to HMRC's own figures cost the UK between £1.1bn and £1.9bn in 2004/05.

"We think this will have a very significant effect. It removes the mechanism by which the fraud can take place," said a spokeswoman for HMRC.

Posted: Friday, 21 July 2006, 17:20 GMT 18:20 UK

New clampdown on carousel fraud

New rules to combat carousel fraud may be introduced as early as October 2006. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) says it is planning to change the system for collecting Value Added Tax (VAT) on certain imported electronic goods.

The tax system will be altered so that VAT will only be collected when items are sold by a retailer.

The change should remove the chance for criminals to charge retailers VAT on imported items only to deliberately fail to hand the tax over to HMRC.

So-called carousel fraud has boomed in the last few years, and according to HMRC's own figures cost the UK between £1.1bn and £1.9bn in 2004/05.

"We think this will have a very significant effect. It removes the mechanism by which the fraud can take place," said a spokeswoman for HMRC.

Posted: Friday, 21 July 2006, 17:20 GMT 18:20 UK

New clampdown on carousel fraud

New rules to combat carousel fraud may be introduced as early as October 2006. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) says it is planning to change the system for collecting Value Added Tax (VAT) on certain imported electronic goods.

The tax system will be altered so that VAT will only be collected when items are sold by a retailer.

The change should remove the chance for criminals to charge retailers VAT on imported items only to deliberately fail to hand the tax over to HMRC.

So-called carousel fraud has boomed in the last few years, and according to HMRC's own figures cost the UK between £1.1bn and £1.9bn in 2004/05.

"We think this will have a very significant effect. It removes the mechanism by which the fraud can take place," said a spokeswoman for HMRC.

Posted: Friday, 21 July 2006, 17:20 GMT 18:20 UK