§ Brian CotterTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the reasons for(a) the fall in the number of VAT registrations and (b) the increase in the number of VAT de-registrations since 1997. [162689]
§ Nigel GriffithsVAT registrations and de-registrations do not capture all start-up activity. Businesses are unlikely to be registered if they fall below the compulsory VAT threshold, which has been rising in each year since 1997. Similarly, businesses that de-register will not necessarily have closed. Only 1.8 million out of 3.8 million enterprises were registered for VAT at the start of 2002.
Barclays Bank's latest survey of business creation includes non-VAT registered firms and shows that there were 93,100 business start ups in England and Wales in the third quarter of 2003. The latest yearly figures show 384,900 business start ups in England and Wales in the 12 months ending in September 2003. This represents a 3 per cent. increase on the year before.