VATAC4100 - Using the discretion to direct stagger - addressing stagger manipulation, suspected missing trader VAT fraud cases and cases where financial difficulty could result in accumulating VAT debt: introduction

This section provides best practice on dealing with cases of perceived manipulation of stagger to obtain a cash flow advantage. It also gives guidance on circumstances where it is appropriate in sectors having a high risk of missing traders or a high risk of accumulating VAT debt, to:

• move traders from monthly to quarterly returns, or vice versa;
• refuse requests by traders to move from quarterly to monthly returns; or
• refuse requests by traders for monthly returns at the time of registration.

VATAC5000 provides further details of how to deal with cases where the stagger is manipulated to obtain a cash flow benefit. VATAC6000 provides additional guidance in cases where the stagger facilitates missing trader VAT fraud. VATAC7000 provides additional guidance in cases where financial difficulty could lead to the accumulation of VAT.

The owner of the policy is the VAT Infrastructure and SDIL Policy team.