Subject to conditions, HMRC may cancel a VAT registration if it is void or if HMRC has concerns that it is has been used, or may be used, to facilitate fraud.
Cancellation where VAT registration is void
HMRC may cancel the registration of registered persons if it is satisfied that they were neither liable to registration (see V2.135–V2.138) nor entitled to registration (see V2.144–V2.146) on the day on which they were registered. It may cancel their registration from that date1.
For example, this was seen in Berwick2, where the Tribunal upheld HMRC's decision to cancel the appellant's registration from the beginning on the grounds that its activities did not amount to a business.
In Satis Italsempione SA, the Tribunal held that a cancellation with effect from a later date was invalid3.
Cancellation in cases involving fraud
HMRC may sometimes seek to cancel a VAT registration in cases connected with fraud under
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Web page updated on 17 Mar 2025 14:07