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An inspector calls
Key points
- Every newly VAT registered business was visited in its first six months of trading.
- VAT visits are currently often carried out remotely.
- Traders or business owners should not be called customers.
- Abolishing zero ratings would remove a major VAT headache.
- Impact of Brexit on VAT so far has been relatively insignificant.
Good morning sir this is Inspector Warren from Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise.
These eloquent words were quoted by a smartly-dressed receptionist at a small engineering firm in Bedford that I visited in 1984 to carry out a VAT compliance visit – we called them ‘control visits’ in those days – when she introduced me to the company’s managing director. As a 20-year old recruit to the powerful and enticing world of Customs and Excise – and only 18 months out of school – these words made me feel about ten feet tall. An inspector? Fantastic....
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