True Brexit Fun

Serious Black, Dienstag, 05. Oktober 2021, 11:36 (vor 924 Tagen) @ NN

Brokers processing EU importers as indirect clients leave themselves equally liable for any tax due, which the custom expert said would leave “few” willing to handle the backlog.

“Let’s say we process a declaration; we earn £35 for that bit of work, but it also makes us jointly liable for the tax due and, to give an idea of what we’re talking, the other day we processed a declaration that had some £2,300 in duty owed,” said the broker.

“If customs comes and audits us and asks us to prove origin and we cannot, they will ask us to find it, if not they will go to the importer. But, with the importer in the EU, it could just say ‘come and get us’. Well, HMRC will not do that, and don’t have to, because they have us, in the UK, equally liable and much easier to get hold of.”

HMRC notes just 35 companies that will serve as indirect representatives and there appears to be little chance of that list growing any time soon.

The source noted that further evidence of the shortfall in viable brokers was the absence of any sustained “pick-up” in the number seeking CFSP approval as the first due date, 25 June, neared.

The source added: “This is a clear indication that declarations are not being lodged on a massive scale and the Treasury is not receiving what it should.”

https://theloadstar.com/delayed-declaration-scheme-means-uk-customs-is-losing-money-han...