UK carousel fraud real losses £8.4bn claims report

News Article - 22 September 2006
Category: Business

Carousel VAT fraud has cost the UK £8.4 billion over the last year, a Belgian investigation has claimed.

If correct, the UK is losing five times more VAT income to carousel, or trader-not-present fraud, than any other country in the EU.

The figures, obtained by reporters working on the BBC's Panorama show, are more than four times higher than the government's most recent official estimates.

The Belgian investigators analysed figures gathered by an EC project on tax revenue and insist that they provide an accurate estimate of the fraud across Europe.

"We estimate the loss to Britain to amount to £3.7 billion with the Dubai connection adding some £8 billion to this figure," Belgian tax investigator Herve Jamar told the BBC.

"It's clear there are very close commercial links between Britain and Dubai.

"We've made these calculations using very specific criteria, based on data we've collected and based on risk analysis. As a result, we've achieved much more realistic figures."

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