Business

Missing Trader Intra Community (MTIC) VAT Fraud

BUSINESS OBJECTIVES ACHIEVED

One of the most prevalent types of VAT fraud is the Missing Trader Intra Community (MTIC) or carousel fraud which involves the theft of VAT. This type of fraud concerns the abuse of the VAT rules on cross border transactions within the EU.

Typically, these types of fraud involve high value goods being purchased from another EU state free of VAT. The goods are then sold to a domestic purchaser with VAT being charged and the initial company (or another trader along the chain) goes missing without paying the VAT to HMRC. These types of cases usually involve complex chains of companies, with multi layered structures and 'back to back' transactions. In some situations, a purchaser will then export the goods and reclaim the VAT from HMRC.

We have extensive experience of dealing with these types of cases involving hundreds of millions of pounds and we have represented those involved in the mobile telephone and IT industry, carbon credit, precious metals and more recently the telecoms and VOIP sector.

We are regularly instructed in high profile cases of this nature and have been for a number of years including: