VAT (Hansard, 27 April 1994)

§ Mr. Austin Mitchell
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the contribution to the change in level of imports from Europe in the first half of 1993 of evasion of value added tax following the abolition of the request for imports declared at customs.

§ Sir John Cope
This change provided no new opportunities for VAT evasion, so the question of assessing the amount does not arise.

§ Mr. Spellar
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the value of VAT repayment cheques stolen in each of the last five years.

§ Sir John Cope
The value of VAT payable orders which have been fraudulently encashed in each of the last five years is as follows:

£

1989–90 25,052

1990–91 161,235

1991–92 85,246

1992–93 ¹1,194,650

1993–94 20,327

¹Includes a payable order for £1,156,806 stolen en route to Haringey borough council.

Excluding the Haringey case, £230,956 of the total of £329,704 misappropriated has been recovered.
163W
The sums still outstanding continue to be subject to any further recovery action that is practically possible.

	£
1989–90	25,052
1990–91	161,235
1991–92	85,246
1992–93	¹1,194,650
1993–94	20,327
¹Includes a payable order for £1,156,806 stolen en route to Haringey borough council.