This week’s Brexit Bites looks at the ground rules set by the EU and UK on their future relationship in financial services, updates from the Trader Support Service as well as a response from HMRC in relation to the Insitute’s letter seeking an update on the duty reimbursement scheme.
HMRC responds to Institute letter regarding duty reimbursement scheme
HMRC responded to the Institute’s letter in which we sought an update about how the duty reimbursement scheme would operate where goods brought into Northern Ireland from Great Britain were declared at risk and were subsequently found to have stayed in Northern Ireland.
HMRC stated in their response that they are developing plans for delivering the scheme and will share further details about when it will open and how it will operate as soon as they are in a position to do so. Details on evidence requirements will also be provided.
EU tariffs may apply to goods brought into NI from GB if there is a risk that the goods will subsequently be moved to the EU. If it can be proven that goods stay in NI, the Joint Committee set up under the Protocol agreed that there would be measures to allow for exemptions, or a potential reimbursement of duties paid.
In the letter, the Institute also noted that the definition of “at risk” is a complex area and queried how far down the supply chain a business needs to go to arrive at the decision if goods are “at risk” or “not at risk”. We recommended the publication by HMRC of more developed and detailed guidance.
In response, HMRC confirmed that the “at risk” guidance will be updated this month (April) to make clearer the ‘at risk’ rules and the interaction between ‘at risk’ and preferential agreements for traders bringing goods into Northern Ireland.
We will keep members updated.
Financial Services - Memorandum of Understanding reached
Technical discussions between the EU and the UK on ground rules for their future relationship in financial services have now concluded. The UK government announced that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) creates the framework for voluntary regulatory cooperation in financial services between the two side.
Both sides still need to take some formal steps before the agreement is signed but the UK Treasury said, “it is expected that this can be done expeditiously.” It’s understood individual member states will also need to approve the MoU.
The MoU does not give access to the EU’s financial services market to the UK; rather it creates a platform via the Joint EU-UK Financial Regulatory Forum to discuss financial services issues in the future.
Read the announcement on GOV.UK.
Trader Support Service (TSS)
The latest edition of the TSS bulletin tells us that the TSS duty deferment account can now be used to make duty payments. The bulletin also covers whether the total invoice value you enter into your supplementary declaration should exclude VAT.
The TSS team have confirmed in their TSS bulletin that the total invoice value entered into the supplementary declaration should exclude VAT. All individual item values that are listed on the supplementary declaration for GB to NI movements should exclude VAT. The bulletin advises that you should make sure VAT is not added into the additional VAT field as this is for Rest of World imports. For example, if goods are valued at £100 plus VAT, enter only £100.
The TSS Duty Deferment Account can now be used to make duty payments calculated in your supplementary declarations.
For more information about the process for payments and dates you need to make them by, you can read this guidance.
Initially you will only be able to make payments associated with your declarations using the TSS Duty Deferment Account (DDA), which will then pay HMRC on your behalf.
You will be able to make payments online by using one of the following card types:
Payment of duty: consider your options
If you have submitted a supplementary declaration that has ‘pending payment’ status, make sure you have considered all potential options for offsetting or removing the need to pay duty. Further guidance can be found here.
For any more support, contact the TSS portal here or call 0800 060 8888 from 7:30am to 10:30pm seven days a week.
ECustoms notification Helpdesk notification Ref: 31/2021
This Helpdesk notification gives details of the VAT eCommerce Package to be introduced on 1 July 2021 and associated changes for import declarations.
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