UK Consolidates No-Deal Brexit Tax Law Guidance

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

07 December 2018

On November 27, 2018, the UK Government published consolidated guidance on the customs, VAT, and excise regulations that have been drafted to deal with the possibility that the UK may leave the EU on March 29, 2019, without a deal on a transition period that would delay Brexit until 2020.

The collection brings together regulations, explanatory memoranda, and an impact assessment in preparation for "day one," if the UK leaves the EU with no deal.

In the event of leaving the EU without a deal, legislation will be necessary to ensure the UK's customs, VAT and excise regimes function as intended after the UK leaves the EU and so, on a contingency basis, HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs will lay a number of Statutory Instruments (SIs) under the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018 (TCTA) and the EU Withdrawal Act 2018 (EUWA) in parliament.

HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs is to publish the statutory instruments as they are laid, and any accompanying documentation, on the new webpage: "Customs, VAT and Excise regulations: leaving the EU with no deal."

The legislation is designed to broadly replicate the current EU legislation and minimize disruption of a no-deal scenario on the UK's international trade. The publication of the collection is intended to complement the recent release of the Partnership Pack for businesses, which includes step-by-step guides to importing and exporting, intended to support businesses to prepare for a no-deal scenario.

The consolidated guidance in the collection explains provisions in:

• The Customs (Import Duty) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018
• The Customs (Special Procedures and Outward Processing) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018
• The Customs Transit Procedure (EU Exit) Regulations 2018
• The Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018

Separately, HMRC has also recently updated guidance for users of the VAT Mini One Stop Shop scheme, which simplifies the administrative obligations on suppliers of broadcasting, telecommunications, and electronic services to EU consumers. The updated guidance includes new information about invoicing, leaving the scheme, and which VAT MOSS Return to use to declare VAT.

It has also newly updated guidance about the place of supply rules and VAT accounting options for businesses established in the UK and businesses established outside the EU.

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