On Thursday, 8 April 2021 at 21:17:42 UTC+1, undefined wrote:
on 08/04/2021, polygonum_on_google supposed :
Ironically logout after very short periods has been plaguing me on the Royal
Mail site checking on items sent from AliExpress.
Ali now add the VAT on at source and collect it, I wonder if they
actually then pay uk.gov what they collect? Who would even know if they
didn't?
Wouldn't HMRC notice - number of packages going through customs clearance (which should mostly be a simple scan) = large number; VAT paid = a small number, approaching zero.

Of course, that would imply a degree of confidence... And who knows how the VAT collected is married up with declared value?