On 2007-05-20 04:24:27 +0100, John Rumm said:

raden wrote:

Really they are looking for crims and wrongdoers, rather than people
who make mistakes here and there

That was the impression I got... in fact they said as much on our first
visit. The bloke in question said they have particular sectors they
will target when they think they are trying to defraud them on a big
scale.

At the time one of their targets were apparently small clothing
manufacturing sweatshops, typically staffed mostly by illegal
immigrants. Every couple of years the companies did a phoenix job owing
VAT etc a nice wodge, the new company would appear at the same address
with a couple of new directors (plucked from the shop floor - required
qualification being able to sign their name where instructed etc). I
guess carousel fraud is a favourite now.

It certainly is. That is tightening up as the VAT authorities in
different countries begin to communicate better. However, there are
still substantially broken pieces. For example, it should be
possible to recover VAT incurred in other EU countries for business
purposes - e.g. if I do a trade show in France or a hotel stay in
Sweden. Unfortunately, application has to be made to the country in
question and paperwork completed in whatever language. Usually the
cost of recovery exceeds the amount involved. Of course, the VAT
authorities are not in a big hurry to fix that problem.