Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of HMRC rules which incur VAT charges on returning boats on UK citizens with boats in the EU as a result of covid-19 travel restrictions.

Relief from import VAT and any customs duty is available under Returned Goods Relief (RGR) for goods exported from the UK and re-imported within three years in an unaltered state. Goods which were transported from the UK to the EU and which remained located in the EU at the end of the transition period will be eligible for RGR, subject to meeting the conditions for the relief, if they are returned to Great Britain by 30 June 2022, regardless of the date they were transported to the EU. This extends the period during which such goods can return to Great Britain under RGR by a further six months in view of the continuing COVID-19 travel restrictions in the UK and in the EU. The extension of this grace period is included in the revised RGR legislation published on 22 March 2021: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reference-documents-for-the-customs-reliefs-from-a-liability-to-import-duty-and-miscellaneous-amendments-eu-exit-regulations-2020.

For RGR to apply on import VAT relief, the exporter and the importer need to be the same person.