Earlier this year, HMRC announced that they would be asking all online marketplaces operating in the UK to sign an agreement to help tackle online VAT fraud and errors taking place on their platforms.

HMRC said that the agreement would ask online retailers to commit to:

• educating online sellers from the UK and abroad about their VAT obligations in the UK, either via their own help and support or by directing them to HMRC’s GOV.UK guidance;
• responding swiftly when notified by HMRC that sellers are not playing by the VAT rules, and setting up a system to take appropriate action;
• finding a suitable and lawful way to provide HMRC with information about their sellers, when requested.

HMRC also promised to publish a list of signatories to the agreement and to update the list periodically. The latest version was published on 3 September 2018. The list of signatories has now increased to seven and includes Amazon and eBay, two of the largest
marketplaces operating in the UK. The other signatories are Fruugo.com, Wolf & Badger Ltd, Etsy Ireland UC, ASOS PLC and Flubit Ltd.

HMRC has said that the list will continue to be updated periodically to add any new signatories, and to remove any online marketplace that fails to meet their commitments to the agreement.

Source: New feed