Value Added Tax (Distance Selling and Miscellaneous Amendments No. 2) Regulations 2021 Customs Tariff (Establishment and Suspension of Import Duty) (EU Exit) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2021

Steve Baker Excerpts

Thursday 18th November 2021 General Committees

[Mr Steve Baker (Wycombe) (Con)]

I am delighted to have this rare opportunity to speak in a Delegated Legislation Committee. It seems these days that I only obtain this pleasure by swapping with a colleague, and I cannot think why there is a reluctance to appoint me.

I absolutely welcome the simplified accounting schemes, and I commend to Ministers the idea of going further to simplify them. In particular, I hope the Minister could tell us whether it is possible to increase the £135 limit on the IOSS, because the more people who are drawn into simpler schemes, the better. Since he raised the issue, I hope that the hon. Member for Gordon will cast his mind forward with his own arguments to the idea of Scotland leaving the UK while the UK remains out of the European Union. His arguments this morning might come back to haunt him.

It is tempting to say that, until today, I had no idea that our excellent Government and officials could make minor or consequential errors, but that would be to mislead the Committee. I am grateful that these corrections are being made. These instruments enable UK companies to participate in EU member state VAT schemes. Will my right hon. and learned Friend the Minister reassure me that EU law and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice will not end up extending over UK businesses, other than those that actually do business in the EU?

Paragraph 8.1 of the explanatory memorandum to the VAT regulations says that the legislation ensures

“that the UK’s e-commerce VAT regime operates as required by the NI Protocol.”

Will my right hon. and learned Friend set out the extent to which she thinks the Northern Ireland protocol constrains the UK’s e-commerce VAT regime overall? I very much hope the Government are able to suspend other tariffs, and keep them suspended, in the interests of free trade.

[Lucy Frazer]

It is great to see Parliament working at its best—when there are constructive comments in which everybody agrees with the principle of what the Government are doing. I am grateful that the Opposition Members are not opposing these necessary measures.

The hon. Member for Ealing North mentioned errors. I want to highlight that there are 16,000 tariff lines and 8,000 pages of legislation, and we are correcting six errors. The legislation was put in place at pace. Of course, errors are unfortunate, but these were very small. he also asked about a cumulative impact statement. We do produce impact statements, but I will take his suggestion away.

I would like to address the points made by my right hon. Friend the Member for Wycombe—

[Mr Baker]

Only honourable!

[Lucy Frazer]

Then I will address the points by my hon. Friend the Member for Wycombe. It is the Government’s policy to simplify taxation more broadly. We want to simplify our relationship with Northern Ireland, and we are progressing negotiations to achieve that. He has asked me a couple of questions that, unfortunately, go beyond the ambit of this narrow debate on VAT legislation and correcting minor errors about the relationship between businesses, EU law, the jurisdiction of the Court and the Northern Ireland protocol. I know that those matters are dear to his heart, but all I can say is that we are trying to achieve an appropriate landing point that is satisfactory to the people of Northern Ireland and the EU in the negotiations between Lord Frost and the EU negotiators. On that basis, I commend the statutory instruments to the House.

Question put and agreed to.

CUSTOMS TARIFF (ESTABLISHMENT AND SUSPENSION OF IMPORT DUTY) (EU EXIT) (AMENDMENT) (NO. 2) REGULATIONS 2021

Resolved,

That the Committee has considered the Customs Tariff (Establishment and Suspension of Import Duty) (EU Exit) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021, No. 1191).