Policy paper

Minutes of the Trade Specialised Committee on VAT Administrative Cooperation and Recovery of Taxes: 15 December 2021

Published 28 January 2022

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The first Trade Specialised Committee on VAT Administrative Cooperation and Recovery of taxes under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement

Joint Minutes

Virtual/UK host, 15 December 2021

Item 1: Greeting and opening remarks by the Co-Chairs

The UK and the EU Co-chairs welcomed participants to the meeting.

Item 2: Adoption of the agenda

The provisional agenda as published in advance was adopted for the meeting.

Item 3: Taking stock of the use of the administrative cooperation and recovery assistance in 2021

The EU presented information on the Parties’ respective use of temporary measures under the VAT Protocol to the TCA for administrative cooperation and recovery assistance in 2021. Administrative cooperation provisions have been used effectively, and usage may increase. Debt recovery provisions have been used in only a handful of cases and some minor issues have been encountered. The EU noted that a number of MS indicated the use of offline forms as being cumbersome and stated its view that the adoption of the implementing decisions would ensure digitalisation and smoother cooperation.

The UK will continue to work with the Commission and Member States to resolve these minor issues.

Item 4: Implementation of the VAT Protocol on administrative cooperation and recovery – state of play

The Parties agreed there were currently no outstanding technical issues to address on the draft decisions, but that UK government departments are reviewing associated financial contributions and agreement on these remained outstanding.

Item 5: Exchange of information on the Parties’ respective internal procedural requirements for the adoption of the decisions listed in point 4 by written procedure

UK government departments are reviewing proposed financial contributions. Once this process is complete, both Parties will consult interested stakeholders and then propose to adopt the draft decisions under the written procedure set out at rule 9 of the Rules of Procedure of the Partnership Council and Committees set out in the TCA.

Item 6: Any other business

The UK once again formally requested to amend the debt recovery threshold set out in Article 33(4) of the Protocol as provided for under Article 122(2) of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, so that it is equivalent to that contained in Council Directive 2010/24/EU (the EU debt recovery Directive). This would be in order to remove the requirement for British businesses to appoint a fiscal intermediary when registering for the EU’s Import One Stop Shop.

The EU noted previous correspondence from the UK proposing to reduce the recovery threshold and that this topic was already discussed by the Trade Partnership Council on 13 October 2021. The EU maintains its position that it is not open to amending the debt recovery threshold at this time, preferring to first concentrate on the implementation of the current text of the VAT Protocol.

Item 7: Conclusions and next steps

The Parties agreed to adopt draft implementing decisions by written procedure, once outstanding internal processes discussed under item 5 had been completed. Co-Chairs agreed that the draft minutes shall be drawn up within 45 days from the end of the meeting and secretariats agreed to sign the minutes electronically.

Co-chairs confirmed that the next Trade Specialised Committee would occur no later than December 2022.

Item 8:

Co-chairs concluded the meeting and thanked delegates.

Annex: List of attendees

UK Delegation:

  • UK Co-chair of the Trade Specialised Committee
  • UK Government Officials from HM Treasury; HM Revenue & Customs; Cabinet Office
  • UK Mission to the European Union Officials
  • Scottish Government Officials
  • Northern Ireland Executive Officials
  • Isle of Man Government Officials from Isle of Man Customs and Excise

EU Delegation:

  • EU Co-Chair of the Trade Specialised Committee
  • European Commission Officials
  • Delegation of the European Union to the UK Officials
  • Representatives of EU Member States
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