Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has held with the Northern Ireland Office on the impact of upfront customs duty payments on Northern Ireland car retailers bringing vehicles into Northern Ireland, in the context of longer repayment times in Northern Ireland compared with car retailers in other parts of the UK.

HMRC continues to support industry, including car retailers, to maximise the use of the facilitations under the Windsor Framework. The UK Internal Market Scheme (UKIMS) can be used by authorised businesses to move eligible goods ‘not at risk’, without payment of duty, if they are brought from Great Britain into Northern Ireland for sale or final use by end consumers in the UK. The Independent Monitoring Panel's November 2025 report confirmed that the vast majority of goods movements to Northern Ireland by value (96%) continue to do so without paying any duty. Where goods are assessed to be 'at risk' but remain outside the EU, HMRC has also recently delivered improvements to the Duty Reimbursement Scheme (DRS) to support businesses, and in particular those affected by upfront duty costs.