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Written question asked by Lord Lucas (Conservative) on Saturday, 12 April 2025, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 29 April 2025. It was answered by Lord Livermore (Labour) on Tuesday, 29 April 2025 on behalf of the Treasury.

Companies: Fraud and VAT

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to adding (1) a company number field to the Gov.uk VAT checker service, and (2) a VAT number field to the Companies House online register, with the aim of reducing corporate fraud and VAT evasion.

Answer

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and Companies House (CH) are committed to preventing fraud and tax evasion by identifying and holding accountable corporate entities that attempt to evade their responsibilities and tax liabilities. The departments have strong relations, further strengthened by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (2023) and have developed a collective programme of activities to facilitate closer cooperation on company registrations and de-registrations, accounting and filing, and sharing risk intelligence and data.

There are no plans to add a Company Number field to the UK VAT Registration checker service, or a VAT Registration Number field to the Companies House online register. However, HMRC and CH will continue to work together to develop and implement further improvements to the way that businesses register as a company and register for corporation tax and VAT to reduce tax evasion and corporate fraud.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL6652
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Companies Fraud Electronic government Companies House VAT Tax evasion
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk