Currie is hit by huge VAT scam
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by Doug Archibald • Fears that a Dumfries haulier innocently caught up in a worldwide transport scam might have to scrap its Dutch operation have been dismissed this week.
Staff at the Currie Group centres in Dumfries and Nijmegen have been told that their jobs are safe— but managing director David Ross confirms that the firm has been a victim in a huge VAT fraud.
Currie has just received a bill for two-million Dutch guilders (C680,000) for unpaid duty which relates to business carried out two years ago when the company delivered a load of computer floppy discs in Europe. The discs were imported through the United States and duty was paid accordingly. But Dutch customs discovered they originated in Taiwan.
Ross says: "Duty was paid on the discs. But there are different levels of duty for different countries and Taiwan is much higher than America. The twomillion guilders represents the difference in duty, but it can be recovered from the manufacturer. We have been in talks with the Taiwanese company and Dutch customs for 18 months. 1. would emphasise that the talks with customs are very amicable. There is no question of Currie having done anything wrong and no question of a prosecution."