Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government why reverse charge VAT has been applied to products such as mobile phones and gold, but not to scrap metal.

HMRC uses a wide range of risk assessment and compliance responses to identify and tackle non-compliance. The introduction of a reverse charge can be effective in preventing certain types of VAT fraud. It is used selectively and targeted at the highest risks such as mobile phones and, most recently, telecommunications.