Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 21
21
Accepted
Online marketplaces primarily responsible for verifying overseas sellers' VAT establishment to prevent evasion.
Recommendation
The government introduced a legislative change in January 2021 to tackle tax non–compliance through online marketplaces. This removed responsibility for accounting for the VAT on sales from overseas retailers, and instead made the online marketplaces liable for the VAT.61 Overseas sellers can evade VAT by falsely presenting themselves as UK established for VAT purposes.62 Online marketplaces need to determine the correct 53 C&AG’s Report, para 2.9 54 Q 41 55 Q 41 56 Q 59 57 C&AG’s Report, para 2.18 58 Q 60 59 Qq 61–62 60 Q 65 61 C&AG’s Report, para 2.6 62 C&AG’s Report, para 2.14 15 liability or demonstrate they have taken reasonable steps to do so, including whether sellers are UK–established.63 HMRC told us it is for the online marketplaces to do the majority of the work verifying the establishment of businesses selling through their platforms, but it does some enforcement work in this area. It also said it is actively supporting online marketplaces including by developing new guidance for them which will be available in early 2025.64
Government Response Summary
HMRC will strengthen controls through enhanced address validation within the VAT registration service by April 2026, and will write to the Committee to update progress in 6 months, with a final summary by April 2026.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: April 2026 5.2 HMRC already has robust controls in place but will continue to strengthen them over time. Elements of the recommendation are already embedded in current ways of working. HMRC is conducting a feasibility study to explore options to strengthen controls through enhanced address validation (detailed below), within the VAT registration service. 5.3 At the point of VAT registration, customers and their agents are currently asked to complete the address field using a fixed address look-up service, which uses valid UK addresses to reduce the risk of customer error or fraud. Preventative risking controls were introduced in 2023 to improve the identification of bulk address submissions that relate to a single address. HMRC is already exploring options for enhancing address validation and verification of UK establishment during the VAT registration process. This will determine the feasibility of linking registration checks to verification and identification of risks. This feasibility study will complete by 30 June 2025, with an anticipated implementation date of 31 March 2026. 5.4 HMRC recognises the risks relating to overseas businesses purporting to be established in the UK to the online marketplaces on which they sell. Legislation introduced in January 2021 makes online marketplaces liable for the VAT on sales made in the UK by an overseas seller. Where an online marketplace gets the liability wrong, because they have incorrectly determined the place of establishment of the seller, HMRC can raise assessments against the online marketplace to recover the lost VAT. In addition, HMRC will continue to carry out risk-based compliance checks and, where appropriate, disclose to an online marketplace information relating to the place of establishment of a seller on that online marketplace. This allows for an early recognition and agreement of an online marketplace’s true tax liability. 5.5 HMRC will write to the Committee in 6 months’ time to update progress on this recommendation and will provide a final summary upon the completion of the activities outlined above in April 2026.