Businesses need to be aware of the time-frame in order to prepare for a “No deal” Brexit. Take a look below at areas which need to be considered.
EU refunds
In the event of No Deal, the EU refunds portal will be closed to UK businesses submitting claims on 29 March 2019. This means that claims would need to be made by this date to avoid the need to submit paper 13th Directive claims and all the paperwork (original Certificates of Status, invoices, claims in the language of the claimant Member State etc.)
For those claiming from the UK, the claim year for the 13th Directive is 1 July to 30 June each year with a claim deadline of 31 December each year. This means that the first part of 2018 is potentially out of time for EU businesses making claims after 29 March 2019 in the event of a “No Deal” Brexit.
For UK businesses making claims for VAT in other EU Member States, the deadline is 30 June 2019 for the 2018 year in most of them. In addition, HMRC has not confirmed whether Certificates of Status will be handled by the Enquiries Unit. If they are going to be, in the words of Private Fraser from Dad’s Army (for those of us old enough to remember it!) “We’re doomed”, as it is currently taking 4 months to get anything out of that unit!
France and Belgium have also told businesses that the deadline is 29 March 2019.
MOSS
UK businesses using the HMRC portal to submit MOSS returns will no longer be able to do so post 11pm on 29 March 2019 if there is a “No Deal” Brexit. If they have ongoing supplies beyond that date, they will either have to register for VAT in each Member State or they will have to apply for the “non-Union” MOSS scheme in a Member state of choice. For the MOSS scheme, however, they can’t apply until after 29 March and will have to get the application into the Member State by 10 April 2019.
The new €10,000 threshold will also not apply to UK businesses and it will revert to a nil threshold.
UPDATE – 16 January 2020
Our contacts at the HMRC policy team dealing with this area have confirmed that the portal will remain open for claims after 31 January 2020 and, furthermore, will remain open until 31 March 2021 for the 2020 calendar year claims.
We will keep you updated on further information as it occurs regarding this and other areas but in the meantime if you have any questions or concerns please contact our experts Ruth Corkin or Natasha Heron.
