VAT fraud in the UK has risen to an all time high, a distributor has told The Register. Alan Stanley, UK general manager of the French company, said yesterday that the UK had now overtaken other European countries for the most fraud. He said that HM Customs & Excise told him £300 million worth of business in the UK was lost through VAT fraud. That compared unfavourably with other countries, said Stanley. Last year France was number one in VAT fraud but the situation had changed. Criminals were using the different rates of VAT throughout the European Community to make illegal profits. He hoped that the arrival of the Euro at the beginning of next year would mean a rapid move to harmonised VAT rates. Two weeks ago, Stanley was offered Dane-Elec memory at a price below the price he had to pay his own factory, based in Galway. The UK, has a 17.5 per cent VAT rate, while the tax on memory in Ireland is eight per cent. ®