Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2014-03-31.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what guidelines are followed by HM Revenue and Customs and the Crown Prosecution Service in determining whether to investigate or prosecute VAT carousel fraud.

Lord Newby

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) seek to disrupt VAT carousel (Missing Trader Intra-Community – MTIC) fraud using both civil and criminal interventions.

When using criminal action HMRC seek to investigate the ‘guiding minds’ behind MTIC fraud, as well as, selectively, other participants, including key enablers.

Such cases are notified and referred to the relevant independent prosecutors. The final charging decision is made by the prosecuting agency, based on the evidence presented as a result of the HMRC investigation. Cases in England and Wales will be referred to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).