Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether Amazon has given HMRC a complete list of all the non-UK retailers using Fulfillment by Amazon in the UK, together with their corresponding data and VAT numbers.
Answered by Lord Bates
HMRC cannot comment on the affairs of individual taxpayers, as it has a duty to maintain taxpayer confidentiality.
HMRC expects intermediaries to provide data to the department voluntarily upon request, and has statutory powers to require production of data where necessary.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the liability of online marketplaces for unpaid VAT where a business trading in that marketplace evades VAT.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
Online marketplaces have no liability for unpaid VAT where the operator merely provides a marketplace for businesses to sell goods. However, HM Revenue and Customs is continuing to work with major online marketplaces to tackle this issue.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of their obligation under EU law to prevent VAT evasion.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
In considering fraud against European own resources, including VAT collection, the European Court recently clarified in the Taricco judgment that Member States are obliged under EU law (Article 325 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) to have in place effective and dissuasive criminal penalties against VAT fraud. The UK applies a full range of penalties to address various behaviours from dishonesty and deliberate inaccuracies through to criminal prosecutions for VAT offences.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have conducted any test purchases in online markets to provide evidence of the evasion of VAT.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has a range of operational activity in place to tackle evasion and to establish evidence of the scale of the problem. HMRC does not routinely carry out test purchases through online platforms.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 8 December (HL3854), what were the dates of the last three written communications from HMRC to Trading Standards about VAT fraud among online traders operating from abroad, including email, and to what persons at what offices they were addressed.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
HM Revenue & Customs does not disclose communications it has with its enforcement partners, or the content of those communications, to avoid compromising sensitive policy and operational activities.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 17 November (HL3227), what discussion HMRC has had with Trading Standards about VAT fraud among online traders operating from abroad; on what dates they held those discussions; by what medium; and with what outcome.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
HM Revenue and Customs is engaging with Trading Standards, both bi-laterally and through cross-government groups, to establish a coordinated response to VAT fraud by online traders operating from abroad. Additionally, HMRC has on-going policy and operational exchanges with Trading Standards via various media including face-to-face meeting, e-mail and telephone, sharing information and intelligence in line with established information gateways.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of recent reports about VAT fraud by online traders operating from abroad, what is their estimate of the impact of such tax evasion on (1) the public purse, and (2) UK businesses.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
Any UK VAT losses arising from online traders operating from abroad are already included within the published UK Tax Gap.
The estimate of the VAT Gap published in “Measuring Tax Gaps 2015 edition” on 22 October 2015 is £13.1 billion. Overall, the UK Tax Gap was 6.4 per cent in 2013-14,down from 6.6 per cent in 2012-13. As part of that, the VAT Gap is calculated as 11.1 per cent in 2013-14, a reduction from 11.9 per cent in 2012-13.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of recent reports about VAT fraud by online traders operating from abroad, whether they plan to pursue (1) Amazon, and (2) eBay, for any UK VAT that has been evaded by traders using those online marketplaces; and if not, why not.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is actively targeting operational and intelligence activity to tackle this issue. However, HMRC is unable to give details of its plans in respect of any individual taxpayer because of taxpayer confidentiality.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of recent reports about VAT fraud by online traders operating from abroad, what action they are taking to reduce the extent of such tax evasion, and whether that action will be completed before Christmas in order to protect UK businesses.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
HM Revenue and Customs is actively targeting operational and intelligence activity, as well as a range of other options, to tackle this issue.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of recent reports about VAT fraud by online traders operating from abroad, what discussions they have had in the last three months with (1) Amazon, and (2) eBay, about the extent of such tax evasion on their online marketplaces.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
HM Revenue and Customs is in regular contact with the largest businesses through its dedicated “Customer Relationship Manager” model.Details of discussions with individual taxpayers cannot be disclosed due to taxpayer confidentiality.