§ Brian CotterTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average time taken was to issue a VAT number for a new business once an application has been filed over the last 12 months. [65718]
§ John HealeyCustoms does not maintain statistics on the average time taken to issue a VAT number and it would involve disproportionate cost to produce this information.
Customs work to a Charter Standard for the processing of applications for VAT registration, requiring 95 per cent. of properly completed applications to be processed within 15 working days of receipt. For 2001–02 Customs received over 180,000 applications for registration and achieved the Charter Standard.