Carousel fraud may force tax hikes
Government may be forced to increase taxes as carousel fraud spirals out of control; increasing by almost 50%
Government may have to cut spending or increase tax in order to compensate
for a huge jump in the carousel fraud activity.
According to the latest numbers from the Office for National Statistics,
there had been £10bn of the fraud in the second quarter, compared with £6.5bn in
the first quarter of 2006.
According to The Guardian it is estimated that carousel
fraud will exceed £30bn this year – 15 times the level of 2004.
Treasury officials, however, denied that the fraud was out of control.
‘HMRC’s significantly strengthened operational strategy to tackle this fraud
through a combination of legislation, litigation and operational initiatives is
delivering results,’ a spokeswoman said.