With the prospect of a no deal Brexit now more likely, every UK business needs to understand the impact of leaving the EU without a deal in place at 11pm on 29th March.
If your business has exposure to any of the areas below:
- movement of goods to and from the EU
- relies on a supply chains with EU
- uses UK or EU product standards or compliance
- has contracts of services with EU companies or provides them
- employ EU nationals in the UK
- holds EU trademarks, domain names
- is exposed to currency risk
Then a no-deal Brexit could have a significant impact.
The best resource to start evaluating the impact to your business is the Government published guidance: “UK government’s preparations for a no deal scenario” This site puts the government’s technical notices in context and outlines the overall approach to no deal. It is continually updated and therefore is an invaluable guide.
Businesses that buy or sell from the EU are going to be heavily impacted by a no deal Brexit. The high level approach is that businesses will need to start treating trading with the EU in the same way as trading with the rest of the world. The video below explains the impact on importing goods from the EU.
One of the biggest changes will be with VAT and the government have provided guidance via the link below:
For example if you export to EU customers then distance selling arrangements will no longer apply and sales will be zero rated. EU states could then treat the goods in the same way as with other non-EU countries and charge import VAT and customs duties on arrival in the EU.
If you have any concerns about the impact of a no-deal Brexit on your business, please contact WLCA to discuss further.
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