Hot wheels
It’s hard to believe what people get up to sometimes. It’s even harder when you find the taxman blaming you. A recent tax case saw a car dealer accused of taking part in a surprisingly common scam. Cars can be bought VAT-free by wheelchair users if the vehicle is permanently adapted to enable them to drive it. This may not cost very much and may not be very permanent: some unscrupulous people turn up in a wheelchair, buy a £36,000 car for £30,000, then sell it shortly afterwards to someone who will pay say £34,000 for something with just a few miles on the clock.
HMRC asked a dealer for details of cars it had sold to wheelchair users. The taxman recognised some of the names – they’d been busy buying and selling. The dealer claimed not to know anything about a scam – it had accepted the buyers at face value and acted in good faith.
The Tribunal accepted the dealer’s word and decided that the evidence collected was acceptable, given that the dealer had no particular reason to be suspicious. It seems that HMRC expect everyone to treat claims for VAT relief the way they sometimes seem to – as an improper suggestion.
