Taxman's VAT registration figures 'seriously misleading'

The taxman has been accused of producing 'seriously misleading' figures on how long it takes a business to register for VAT.

Minutes from a Joint VAT Consultative Committee meeting show that the length of wait for VAT registrations was capped at 60 days when producing calculations for the average length of time.

HM Revenue & Customs has been fighting for months to bring down the time of VAT registrations.

The statistics previously provided were 'seriously misleading and likely to be a substantial underestimate', shadow Treasury minister David Gauke told Taxation.

He will write to financial secretary to the Treasury Jane Kennedy to ask why the cap was not made clear during parliamentary questions.

HMRC said it had 'in no way tried to mislead anyone' over VAT registration statistics.

An HMRC statement said: 'HMRC has been consistently clear about the basis on which statistics on VAT registration are calculated, including that there have been limitations in the past.

'In recent months we have made substantial improvements to the processing of registration applications and this has enhanced the quality of the data and statistics available on VAT regsitrations.'

Further reading:

Government: VAT delays are 'unnaceptable'