The UK has now left the EU and the transition period is due to come to an end on 31 December 2020, meaning businesses that deal with Europe will be required to follow new rules from 1 January 2021.
Although negotiations around a post-Brexit trade deal are ongoing, there remain some definite changes and opportunities for businesses; these include adjustments to imports from and exports to the EU, including customs, tariffs and VAT.
The ‘Get Ready for Brexit’ checker
There are many variables involved in the specific changes required prior to 1 January 2021, and to help guide businesses through these, the Government has an informative ‘Get ready for Brexit’ checker.
You will need to work your way through some simple questions. Initially these cover travel and living arrangements, but then move on to questions specifically related to the profile of your business and the services it offers.
Once you have answered all of the questions you will be taken to a ‘How to get ready for new rules in 2021: Your results’ page. This section provides you with relevant information on the actions your business needs to take.
Click here to access the Get Ready for Brexit checker.
Actions for businesses trading with Europe
The Government checker is the most helpful way of finding out the detailed actions your business should be taking in order to prepare for 1 January 2021, however new customs and tax rules do demand some essential changes for those businesses trading with the rest of Europe.
- Obtaining a UK European Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) number;
- Ascertaining if your goods are eligible for staged controls;
- Finding out if you need to complete customs declarations;
- Deciding how your business will make customs declarations; and
- Checking to see if import VAT is due at the border.
M+A Partners, helping you prepare for Brexit
To help businesses understand some of the ways in which they can be preparing for the end of the transition period, we have put together a ‘Preparing for Brexit’ factsheet – this can be downloaded from our ‘Publications’ section below.
The factsheet includes an overview of the main action points, along with some links to further information and government resources, including sector-specific webinars to illustrate the key changes. We will continue to update our factsheet as new government guidance is published.
At M+A Partners, we are here to help and support you. If you need any advice on the above then please get in touch.
Preparing for Brexit