Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure that airports in Northern Ireland are treated equivalently to airports in Great Britain in relation to duty-free tax rules for travellers to the EU from 1 January 2020.

While the EU will also be offering duty-free sales of excise goods for travel to Great Britain, passengers travelling from the EU, including Ireland, will have to pay excise duty on goods they bring into the UK, subject to certain personal allowances. This means passengers will need to go through customs processes and declare goods they are carrying in their luggage where duty is due.

By contrast, the Government has committed to Northern Ireland continuing to have unfettered access to the rest of the UK, including passengers from Northern Ireland being able to carry unlimited amounts of personal goods into Great Britain without having to declare them.

Offering duty-free sales without charging excise duty on entry to Great Britain would compromise the UK internal market by allowing unlimited duty-free goods to enter the UK, undercutting domestic retailers and eroding the tax base.

However, the alternative would be to charge tax and duty on these goods to put Northern Ireland in the same position as Ireland.

In practice, this would mean treating goods moving from Northern Ireland to Great Britain as though there were an international border for passengers. This goes against the Government’s clear policy that Northern Ireland is, and will remain, an integral part of the UK, including for excise purposes.

HMRC has published guidance providing further information relating to the VAT and excise treatment of goods under the Northern Ireland Protocol, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/accounting-for-vat-on-goods-moving-between-great-britain-and-northern-ireland-from-1-january-2021 and here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/moving-excise-goods-as-freight-under-the-northern-ireland-protocol-from-1-january-2021/moving-excise-goods-as-freight-under-the-northern-ireland-protocol-from-1-january-2021#excise-movements-from-great-britain-to-northern-ireland-via-the-eu.