Brexit: VAT, Customs and Excise

In December, representatives of the CIOT and invited guests were brought together in a roundtable meeting with cross party parliamentarians from the House of Commons and House of Lords to discuss customs and Brexit issues. The views expressed highlighted the complexities faced, and also offered constructive suggestions for the design and implementation of new procedures to encourage growth. A recurring point throughout the discussions was that businesses need certainty within a realistic timescale in order to make effective arrangements to cope with change. The parliamentarians had opportunities to ask questions. We note that several members of the House of Lords referred to the meeting in their subsequent discussions in Hansard.

The CIOT also met with HM Treasury regarding the Customs Bill White Paper in November 2017, and we met them again in January 2018 to discuss the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Bill. This bill addresses a variety of significant matters; not just import and export duties, but also VAT and excise duties. In December and January, we also met with the treasury teams of the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats to discuss the Bill. 

We have made submissions on the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Bill to assist with its debate in Parliament, which should shortly be available on the policy and technical pages of the CIOT website. As always, we would welcome any thoughts on the bill or any other aspects of Brexit to be sent to us at technical@ciot.org.uk.