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He
says: "They have forced Eurostar to be without
finance and to have extensive problems because of their
actions. They haven't paid us a penny."
Mr
Carnall has been pressing HMRC without success for £114,000
he says is due to Eurostar. "Nearly 12 months after
it started trading Eurostar is still without any money
which HMRC commissioners are arguably illegally
holding."
Lawyers
representing companies caught in the VAT 'trap' say the
Eurostar case is typical of the repayment struggle facing
scores of companies.
Martin
O'Neil, a senior consultant with Vantis Tax, business
advisers that are handling more than 20 delayed payment
cases, says: "We know that fraud exists but it
doesn't follow that everybody should be tarred with the
same brush."
Carousel
fraud, which is concentrated among mobile phones and
computer chips, has cost the Exchequer billions of pounds
and distorted trade figures.
Gangs
and fraudsters have made a killing by obtaining VAT
registrations to buy items VAT free from other EU states
before selling them at VAT inclusive prices and
disappearing leaving HMRC clutching at thin air.
HMRC
has attempted to tighten the net by slowing VAT
registrations and introducing what is known as the reverse
charging mechanism, an accounting measure limited to sales
of mobile phones and computer chips. Under the new system
the customer is responsible for paying VAT first before
the trader tables a claim.
There
had been hopes that HMRC would be speeding up payments
after a VAT Tribunal ruled in favour of Livewire Telecom,
a small mobile phone wholesale business over a £2m VAT
claim but HMRC says it will appeal against the decision. A
spokesman said: "We have had no complaints about
delays."
Source
: Telegraph.co.uk - United Kingdom, dated
19/02/2008
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