Value Added Tax Act 1994 section 28

Offences

Section 28 extends the existing VAT criminal offence provisions in section 72 of the Act so that they also cover fraudulent refund claims and evasion of Northern Ireland acquisition VAT.

• Fraudulently obtaining a refund under the relevant refund regulations counts as evasion of VAT for the purposes of the criminal offence provisions in section 72.
• Where a false refund claim is made, the "amount of VAT" referred to in the offence provisions means the amount that was falsely claimed by way of refund.
• The offence of making false statements to obtain a refund (section 72(5)) applies equally to refund claims made under the Northern Ireland acquisition VAT refund regulations.
• The offence relating to a person who knows or suspects that VAT is being or will be evaded (section 72(10)) applies to Northern Ireland acquisition VAT in the same way as it applies to VAT on supplies of goods or services.