Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many overseas sellers on Amazon and Ebay have registered for VAT in the last three months; and what proportion of those HMRC are investigating for undisclosed VAT.
Answered by Lord Bates
HMRC cannot comment on the affairs of individual taxpayers, as it has a duty to maintain taxpayer confidentiality.
Overall, 8,340 overseas online sellers have registered for VAT in the last 3 months. HMRC monitor these to assess whether any require further investigation.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, when HMRC issues a notice to Amazon to remove a non-UK seller for VAT evasion, the seller's stock held through Fulfillment by Amazon is seized; if not, why not; if so, what happens to that stock; and what other means of recovering VAT arrears are available to HMRC.
Answered by Lord Bates
Where a non-UK seller has evaded VAT, HMRC can seize goods using Customs powers which are subsequently destroyed.
HMRC use a number of different methods to recover outstanding VAT arrears ranging from automated processes, agreeing time to pay, to more targeted enforcement powers.
HMRC cannot comment on the affairs of individual taxpayers, as it has a duty to maintain taxpayer confidentiality.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether HMRC have made any test purchases from independent traders operating through Ebay, Amazon or other online market places in pursuit of VAT evasion.
Answered by Lord Bates
HMRC cannot comment on the affairs of individual taxpayers, as it has a duty to maintain taxpayer confidentiality.
HMRC uses a wide range of risk assessment techniques to identify and tackle non-compliant businesses, and in some limited circumstances test purchases can be useful.
HMRC’s other information sources frequently provide better intelligence to target non-compliance.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what considerations HMRC takes into account when deciding whether or not to pursue a person for VAT evasion.
Answered by Lord Bates
HMRC always pursues known VAT evasion. HMRC employs a wide range of civil and criminal law approaches to tackle the full spectrum of wrong-doing, taking the most appropriate course of action based on all the intelligence and information available.
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.