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Written question asked by Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 8 July 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 14 July 2025 (named day). It was answered by Justin Madders (Labour) on Monday, 14 July 2025 on behalf of the Department for Business and Trade.

Companies: Fraud and VAT

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has considered adding a VAT number field to the Companies House online register to help tackle (a) corporate fraud and (b) tax evasion.

Answer

Companies House is working with HMRC and Insolvency Service to identify the outcomes required to achieve an impact on the drivers of tax evasion, and assess the activities and resources required to deliver those outcomes. This expands on existing work that is strengthening our ability to target abuse of the register and tax system, increasing our ability to tackle tax evasion with greater visibility and accuracy of customer data. This work involves intelligence sharing between the organisations, and informs Companies House’s ongoing threat assessment.

We have no plans at present to require companies to provide VAT numbers to Companies House.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
65905
Session
2024-26
Grouped for answer
Yes
Transferred
Yes
Subjects
Companies Fraud Companies House VAT Tax evasion
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk