Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average length of time was for a decision to be made by HM Revenue and Customs related to a business VAT return in each year since 2010.

HM Revenue & Customs receive over 99% of VAT returns from business electronically. These are processed automatically. We commit to processing all VAT Returns within 8 days of receipt.

All returns where a repayment is claimed are subject to an automated risk process, following which HMRC either makes the repayment or carries out further checks. HMRC has a statutory responsibility to take decisions on repayments within 30 days. In cases where HMRC does not achieve this, it is required to pay a repayment supplement. In 2013/14, HMRC met its statutory responsibility in over 99% of cases.

Returns where a payment is due are not subject to the same automated risk assessment. Cases are selected for compliance checks on the basis of a range of risk factors not necessarily triggered by individual VAT returns. We therefore do not have information on the average length of time for a decision to be made related to a business VAT return in each year since 2010.