§ Mr. DenhamTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the average amount of VAT collected by one Customs and Excise VAT collection officer annually.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-Amory[holding answer 8 December 1994]: For the year ending March 1994, Customs and Excise deployed 5,429 staff years on VAT visiting. These staff identified errors in traders' records which when corrected resulted in an increase in the net liability of £1,322 million, or an average of £243,507 per staff year. These figures do not take account of errors that traders might have found and corrected themselves.
Customs and Excise has recently reviewed the way in which it deploys staff to ensure compliance with VAT requirements so as to ensure increased effectiveness. Over the coming years, effort will be refocused on better education to assist businesses to get their VAT declarations right. In parallel with this, targeting of visits and assurance techniques will be improved.