5.  In regulation 34—

(a) at the beginning of paragraph (1) there shall be inserted the words “Subject to paragraph (1A) below,”; and

(b) after paragraph (1) there shall be inserted the following—

“(1A) Subject to paragraph (1B) below, any overstatement or understatement in a return where—

(a) a period of 3 years has elapsed since the end of the prescribed accounting period for which the return was made; and

(b) the taxable person has not (in relation to that overstatement or understatement) corrected his VAT account in accordance with this regulation before the end of the prescribed accounting period during which that period of 3 years has elapsed,

shall be disregarded for the purposes of this regulation; and in paragraphs (2) to (6) of this regulation “overstatement”, “understatement” and related expressions shall be construed accordingly.

(1B) Paragraph (1A) above does not apply where—

(a) the overstatement or understatement is discovered in a prescribed accounting period which begins before 1st May 1997; and

(b) the return for that prescribed accounting period has not been made, and was not required to have been made, before that date.”.