VAEC1320 - Power of assessment: Evidence of fact: The law explained

Section 73(6)(b) VATA 1994

The time limits contained in Section 73(6)(b), for making assessments under Section 73(1) and (2), allow you to assess accounting periods up to four years old, or in cases involving fraud or a Section 67 penalty, up to twenty years, old , as long as you make the assessment no later than

‘(b) one year after evidence of facts, sufficient in the opinion of the commissioners to justify the making of the assessment, comes to their knowledge’

Section 78A(2) VATA 1994

The time limits contained in Section 78A(2), for assessments made under Section 78A(1), Section 80 (4A) and Section 80(B), allow you to make an assessment no later than

‘… two years after the time when evidence of facts sufficient in the opinion of the commissioners to justify the making of the assessment comes to the knowledge of the commissioners.’

Therefore, whether you are making an assessment under the provisions of Section 73, 78, or 80, the date on which the commissioners obtain the necessary evidence can be critical when deciding if you are in time to make the assessment.

The words ‘sufficient’ and ‘comes to their knowledge’ are crucial in determining the time lime limits for raising a VAT assessment, for further guidance on the definition of

• Sufficient, see VAEC1340
• Comes to their knowledge, see VAEC1330.