Carousel fraud bill to reach £5bn

Carousel fraud bill to reach £5bn

Grant Thornton estimates massive cost of VAT fraud

VAT ‘carousel’
fraud
will cost the cost the government at least £5bn this year, according
to a study by mid-tier firm Grant
Thornton
.

The firm made what it called a ‘conservative’ estimate based on official data
showing sharp falls in the fraudulent activity in the past couple of months.

Grant Thornton said the estimate of £5bn was likely to be reached even if the
final quarter of this year sees a substantial decrease in the scale of fraud.

‘The economic impact of [carousel] fraud continues to have a significant
negative impact on the UK economy,’ said
Stephen
Gifford
, the firm’s chief economist.

‘Even on a conservative estimate we forecast losses to HM Treasury will
amount to £5bn in 2006. That represents around one penny on the basic rate of
income tax,’ he added.

Further reading:

French scupper UK’s anti-carousel fraud efforts

Britain’s carousel fraud battle suffers European blow

Carousel fraudsters sent down for 34 years

Share

Subscribe to get your daily business insights

Resources & Whitepapers

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folders and Embrace Metadata

Professional Services Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folders and Embrace Metadata

3y

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folde...

In the past decade, the professional services industry has transformed significantly. Digital disruptions, increased competition, and changing market ...

View resource
2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professional Services Firms

2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professional Services Firms

3y

2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professi...

In recent months, professional services firms are facing more pressure than ever to deliver value to clients. Often, clients look at the firms own inf...

View resource
Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine

Accounting Firms Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine

3y

Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine

In a world of instant results and automated workloads, the potential for AP to drive insights and transform results is enormous. But, if you’re still ...

View resource
Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021

Making Tax Digital Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021

3y

Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021

The first phase of Making Tax Digital (MTD) saw the requirement for the digital submission of the VAT Return using compliant software. That’s now behi...

View resource