§ Dr. StarkeyTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what investigations the Inland Revenue has undertaken this year to check whether individual traders utilising internet auction sites are wrongfully failing to register as businesses; [136158]
(2) in how many cases this year the Inland Revenue has successfully detected traders wrongfully failing to register as businesses; and how much unpaid tax has been recovered; [136157]
(3) in how many cases this year the Inland Revenue has requested access to the electronic records held by the operators of internet auction sites to check whether individual traders are wrongfully failing to register as businesses. [136156]
§ Dawn PrimaroloThe Inland Revenue can formally ask for information that would identify vendors on internet auction sites, although they would not normally be entitled to see the electronic records for that purpose. Requests for information like this form part of the intelligence gathering process carried out in local offices. Local officers have discretion on how to use their powers, subject to central guidance, and it is not possible to quantify the number of cases where formal requests for information have been from internet auction sites. it is not possible to say how many traders were identified.