Last week Chartered Accountants Ireland attended a special meeting of the Northern Ireland Joint Customs Consultative Committee at which Government Officials provided an update on the Windsor Framework. The key messages for current goods movements from the first meeting in February after announcement of the WF remain the same. Other matters of interest are outlined below and we will feature more in Chartered Accountants Tax News over the next few weeks.
The Institute has been pressing the UK Government on several EU exit matters for some time now. Updates were provided in the meeting on the Trader Support Service (“TSS”) and the long awaited reimbursement scheme, in addition to some other key areas.
Trader Support Service (“TSS”)
The message remains that the Government recognises both the significant support the TSS has provided to businesses and the large number of traders that have benefitted from its assistance since 2021.
The TSS will continue to support traders throughout 2023 to meet the requirements under the Northern Ireland Protocol. Traders will continue to be supported to understand the new Windsor Framework requirements and what it means for them.
Reimbursement scheme
The timeline for the scheme to open is summer 2023. Claimants will not need to be registered under the UK Trader Scheme or the new UK Internal Market Scheme in order to claim a reimbursement of tariffs. Evidence must be provided to support reimbursement scheme claims and this must retained by claimants. HMRC will provide examples of supporting evidence in guidance. Bulk claims will be possible.
We asked what the expected timeframe for refunds is likely to be and HMRC reflected that as the scheme is likely to see significant demand initially, a timeframe cannot initially be provided.
The scheme will apply to reimbursement of tariffs paid on goods classed as being at risk which later become/became not at risk under the original Protocol and on goods which move in the new red lane which should originally have been green lane movements under the Windsor Framework.
The time limit in which claims must be made will be standardised after a period of time and set out in guidance. However initially, claims will be possible back to 1 January 2021.
A new improved customs duty waiver scheme will also be available via a digital process.
More information on the scheme is expected to be available in the next few weeks.
New UK Internal Market Scheme
The expanded UK Trader Scheme will be known as the UK Internal Market Scheme (“UK IMS”) and is expected to open for reauthorisation of existing UK Trader Scheme users in early June with the scheme commencing from 1 October 2023. The UK IMS will underpin green lane movements.
More information on the scheme and how to apply will follow in the coming weeks as will more detailed guidance on green and red lane movements and how these will operate, including the data sets required for each (8 digits for red lane and 6 digits for green lane).
The new UK IMS will be open to traders established anywhere in the UK and will enable participants to set up a unique goods profile for their movements.
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