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Written question asked by James Murray (Labour) on Thursday, 16 May 2024, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 21 May 2024 (named day). It was answered by Nigel Huddleston (Conservative) on Tuesday, 21 May 2024 on behalf of the Treasury.

Taxation: Fraud

Question

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many incidents of tax fraud involving (a) the VAT484 form and (b) other paper forms HMRC has recorded in each of last five financial years; and what the (i) total and (ii) average value of those incidents is.

Answer

HMRC regularly encounters attempts to fraudulently attack its systems and does not routinely keep records of the value of individual instances unless a pattern emerges.

Towards the end of February, HMRC identified a small number of cases which constituted more than isolated incidents. In these cases, paper VAT 484 forms had been wrongly used in an attempt to fraudulently gain access to VAT repayments. Immediate steps have been taken to prevent this from happening, and the situation is being monitored to see if further action is necessary.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
26780
Session
2023-24
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Fraud Forms Taxation
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk