VATDREG08450 - Cancellation in particular cases: artificial separation of business activities (disaggregation)

Requests for deregistration on the grounds of a reduction in turnover may be a consequence of the trader having artificially split the business activities into separate parts. If you have any reason to suspect that the separation is a VAT avoidance measure, report the facts of the case to the relevant point in your unit for further investigation. Do not deregister the trader unless or until you are satisfied that the original registered entity has successfully split into two or more separate entities.

Once you receive confirmation that the trader has separated successfully, you should deregister them (subject to normal checks) from the date requested. However, if the separation is considered to be artificial (disaggregation), we may issue a Notice of Direction to register to the separated entities, subject to the guidance in VATDSAG07000.