New year brings new Brexit rules into force
To all intents and purposes, the UK left the EU on 31 December 2020. However, some changes to rules were delayed to ease the transition. From 1 January 2022 there are additional customs rules to be aware of for businesses trading with the bloc. What's changed?
Following the UK’s exit from the EU, there have been wholesale changes to the way imports and exports of goods are handled. The agreement struck in December 2020 means that there are no tariffs applied, but import tax has been applicable since January 2021. Certain processes, mainly regarding paperwork, were not initially required in order to allow affected businesses time to get used to the new relationship with their customers. These have now taken effect:
- full customs import declarations are needed for all goods at the time a business or the courier/freight forwarder brings them into Great Britain
- customs controls at all ports and other border locations
- the possible need for a suppliers’ declaration proving the origin of your goods (either UK or EU) if using the zero tariffs agreed in the UK’s trade deal with the EU
- commodity codes, which are used to classify goods for customs declarations, are changing.
Further information is available from HMRC.
Related Topics
-
HMRC speeds up National Insurance refunds
HMRC has confirmed that it is using a new automated process to speed up National Insurance refunds. Where its records suggest that someone may have overpaid, HMRC will write to them asking them to check their employment and contribution details before any refund is processed. Could you be due money back?
-
Should you voluntarily payroll benefits in kind?
The window to sign up to voluntarily payroll non-mandatory benefits in kind for 2027/28 will open in November. Is it worth volunteering to pay HMRC earlier than required or should you wait until it becomes mandatory in 2028/29?
-
Wise tax statement errors could affect 4,000 customers
Around 4,000 UK customers of financial services provider Wise have been told that tax statements issued between 2021 and 2025 contained incorrect figures. The errors could have resulted in taxpayers paying too much or too little income tax and capital gains tax (CGT). What should affected customers check?



This website uses both its own and third-party cookies to analyze our services and navigation on our website in order to improve its contents (analytical purposes: measure visits and sources of web traffic). The legal basis is the consent of the user, except in the case of basic cookies, which are essential to navigate this website.