Trading After Brexit and SME Brexit Support Grant

Are you a small-to-medium-sized business which imports and exports to/from the EU, but is struggling with the new requirements since Brexit? Did you know about the SME Brexit Support Fund? No? Well, it's been set up by the government to give you financial support to cover professional fees in a variety of areas, such as help with customs declaration forms, management of customer processes and accounting for import and exports on your VAT return. Josh Smithurst from our cloud accounting team explains more…

The dust has now settled since the UK officially left the EU on 1st January 2021. But numerous rules and regulations have changed, which affect how a large proportion of UK businesses do business. As a result, a considerable number of firms have had to invest time and money to adjust their processes in order to remain compliant.

The good news is you can access a grant of up to £2,000, which is available to help cover the costs of training on the following:

• How to complete customs declarations
• How to manage customs processes and use customs software and systems
• Specific import and export related issues including VAT, excise and rules of origin.

This 'SME Brexit Support Grant' can be used towards getting the help you need on any of the above topics from professional advisors.

To be eligible, you need to meet a number of criteria.

You must be established in the UK with a turnover of under £100m and no more than five hundred employees. You must not have previously failed to meet your tax or customs obligations and must only import, or export, goods between the UK and Northern Ireland or the EU. You will not be eligible for this grant if you already import, or export goods to, or from, non-EU countries. Finally, you must also either complete (or intend to complete) import or export declarations internally for your own goods or use someone else to complete these declarations.

Anyone who has imported or exported goods and is registered for VAT will know that there are many different rules you need to abide by – and even more processes that you need to follow – to remain compliant with the law. Since Brexit, a lot of these have changed and most are circumstantial. I will therefore detail the major changes that will affect most businesses and if you would like any more advice, please get in touch.

Firstly, if you are planning on moving goods between the UK and any other country - whether that is Northern Ireland, a country in the EU, or out of the EU – you will need an EORI (Economic Operators Registration and Identification) number. There are different types of EORI, depending on where you are moving goods to and from. If you are based in the UK, then you must get an EORI number that starts with GB.

Secondly, customs declarations. These now need to be made for any goods entering or leaving the UK. As you have probably guessed, making these declarations can become very complex. Therefore, businesses have been advised to appoint a freight forwarder or customs agent to handle this on their behalf. If you would rather do the work yourself though, you can use specialist software or HMRC's online CHIEF system (Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight).

If you import goods from the EU to the UK on a regular basis, you can apply for a duty deferment account. This saves you from paying duty on individual imports and lets you pay in one lump sum at the end of the month instead. As well as saving you a considerable amount of admin time, it can also help to ensure your items get through customs checks as quickly as possible.

There has also been an agreement between the UK and the EU for 100% tariff-free trade, meaning there will be no quotas or tariffs on the movement of goods between the UK and EU. However, this deal only covers the trading of 'originating goods', that have been made in the UK or the EU, for example. The 'rules of origins' regulations state that the goods must have at least 60% of their prefinished value from UK or EU origin. If this is not the case, then UK businesses must self-certify the origin of the exports to the EU.

If you believe that you need this support, then you will need to act quickly, as only £20m has been allocated to the fund and when its gone, its gone! Contact us at Page Kirk for more information and how to apply. Email enquiries@pagekirk.co.uk or call 0115 9555500.