Big numbers

THE THIRTEENTH SESSION of the Public Bill Committee's consideration of Finance Bill 2007 began with a consideration of clause 97 which the Lobby Notes explain 'amends the joint and several liability provisions applicable to traders who know or have reasonable grounds to suspect that VAT will go unpaid elsewhere in a supply chain. It introduces a new power to allow HM Treasury by order to extend or otherwise alter the circumstances in which a person is presumed to have reasonable grounds for suspecting that VAT will go unpaid'.
There followed a rather lengthy debate on the scale of missing trader intra-Community fraud (such as 'carousel' frauds) and one figure quoted for 2005-06 was between £3.5 and £4.75 billion. While there was some debate over the exact level Mr Gauke (Conservative) seemed to hit the nail on the head with his statement that...