Examples of use of joint and several liability
1. In the 2003 Budget the government introduced "joint and several" liability, meaning that traders in the supply chain could be held responsible, either individually or jointly, for paying any VAT liability that had been fraudulently withheld by another member of the supply chain.
2. The anti–fraud law, known as "joint and several" liability is one of the recent measures introduced to address the escalating problem of "missing trader" or carousel fraud, which involves a chain of cross–border purchases of small, high–value items such as computer chips or mobile phones.
3. Revenue & Customs also welcomed the ruling, which it said was "firm and final confirmation that member states may legally prevent abuse of the VAT system and protect revenues by applying joint and several liability". "Traders that do not take reasonable precautions are at risk of being liable for unpaid VAT.