Businesses that want to register for VAT are experiencing delays in the length of time it takes for their applications to be processed. The wait is the result of government efforts to combat carousel fraud and a reorganisation of HM Revenue and Customs’ registration procedures. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has a target of 14 days in which to process applications, but the average time span for registering a new business for VAT has now crept up to 38 days. A HMRC spokesman said of the delays: “The main problem has been that we have been doing extended checks on some businesses as part of our attempts to reduce fraud, but there has also been a spike in applications because of changes to the tax regulations for managed services companies.” Although HMRC is cutting the number of registration units by half, from four to two, it insisted that refining the process would eventually lead to an acceleration in the rate at which applications are handled. Date:22 August 2007
Content by: Made Simple Group
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