Taxation (Post-transition Period) Bill — New Clause 3 — Treasury Use of Powers — Northern Ireland Customs Duties — Reports — 15 Dec 2020 at 16:45

The majority of MPs voted not to require reports on customs duties on goods moved into Northern Ireland and between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

MPs were considering the Taxation (Post-transition Period) Bill^[1][2].

The proposed new clause rejected in this vote was titled: Treasury use of powers and stated:

• (1) The Treasury must, within four working days of the day on which this Act is passed, publish a report setting out the timeframe within which it will use the powers to make regulations conferred by—
• (a) section 40A(2) of TCTA 2018;
• (b) section 40B(1) and (2) of TCTA 2018;
• (c) section 30A(4) of TCTA 2018;
• (d) section 30B(1) and (3) of TCTA 2018;
• (e) section 30C(5) of TCTA 2018; and
• (f) section 5(2) of this Act.
• (2) The Treasury must publish an annual report setting out how it has made use of the powers referred to in subsection (1).
• (3) Each report under subsection (2) must include an assessment of—
• (a) what considerations the Treasury made when deciding to use its powers, and
• (b) the impact of the regulations on individuals and businesses throughout the UK, and specifically in Northern Ireland.”

Sections 40A and 50B of the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018 related to export duties on goods removed to Northern Ireland which are "not domestic goods" or "are at risk of subsequently being moved into the European Union"^[3]; sections 30A-C related to import duties on goods imported into Northern Ireland and "the removal of goods to Great Britain from Northern Ireland if the goods are not qualifying Northern Ireland goods^[3]. Clause 5(2) of the Taxation (Post-transition Period) Bill, which was intended to become Section 5(2) of the Act provided for customs duties to apply to movements from Great Britain to Northern Ireland in the same way that they apply to imports into the United Kingdom and to enable regulations to be made to change rates of such duties and which goods they apply to^[2].

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• [1] Parliament's webpage on the Taxation (Post-transition Period) Bill, Parliament.uk
• [2] Explanatory notes to the Taxation (Post-transition Period) Bill, Parliament.uk
• [3] Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018, Legislation.gov.uk
• [4] Taxation (Post-transition Period) Bill, as introduced, 8 December 2020, Parliament.uk

Debate in Parliament |