Written question asked by Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru) on Monday, 18 May 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 20 May 2026. It was answered by Dan Tomlinson (Labour) on Wednesday, 27 May 2026 on behalf of the Treasury.

Imports: Tax Evasion

Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many freight forwarders and customs agents have received demands from HMRC for unpaid import VAT or customs duty in respect of declarations submitted on behalf of importers who were subsequently found to be (a) not genuinely established in the United Kingdom, (b) registered for VAT using a fraudulent or virtual address, or (c) dissolved or struck off at the time of the relevant declaration.

Answer: HMRC systems do not record, in a readily extractable format, the number of freight forwarders or customs agents issued demands for unpaid import VAT or duty linked to importers who are not UK established, use fraudulent or virtual VAT registrations, or are dissolved/struck off.

Secondary information