On 13 May 2021, HM Revenue & Customs published a Policy Paper outlining changes being introduced across the European Union that will affect the VAT treatment of cross-border, business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce activities with effect from 1 July 2021. The changes will impact the VAT treatment of imports of “low value goods” into the European Union (EU) or Northern Ireland (NI) from third countries (including Great Britain), and the movement of goods between Northern Ireland and the European Union.
The new rules are supposed to introduce simplifications but complexities, and potentially burdensome compliance obligations, can quickly arise in numerous scenarios. In this alert, we look at some of the implications.
