To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of valued added tax (VAT) registered traders who are eligible to use VAT cash accounting do not use it. (255051)

Businesses are not required to notify HMRC if they use cash accounting. As a result of research conducted in 2006, HMRC estimates that the scheme is used by at least one in three eligible businesses which would benefit from it. The scheme is already available to over 90 per cent. of the VAT registered population, but does not benefit businesses that already operate on a cash receipts basis such as retailers.