Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of duty-free sales arrangements under the Windsor Framework on Northern Ireland’s airports; and whether she has had discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive on enabling passengers travelling from Northern Ireland airports to (a) Great Britain and (b) third countries to access duty-free sales on the same basis as passengers travelling from other UK airports.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Excise duty is due on excise goods due to be consumed in the UK. There are no plans to allow individuals moving from one part of the UK to another to purchase duty free goods.
Passengers travelling from Northern Ireland to a place outside the UK and the EU are entitled to purchase duty free goods in the same way as passengers travelling from Great Britain to a place outside the UK. Duty free shopping between Northern Ireland and the EU would require the application of personal allowances, to prevent the uncontrolled flow of tax-free goods into either Northern Ireland or the EU. The enforcement controls required for this would run counter to the shared ambitions of the UK and the EU set out in the Windsor Framework and the principle of the frictionless movement of people and goods between Northern Ireland and Ireland.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Windsor Framework on local airports.
Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Windsor Framework gives Northern Ireland unique dual market access which ensures the free movement of goods across the UK and the EU, whilst maintaining the frictionless movement of people and goods on the island of Ireland.
Duty-free shopping is not available between Northern Ireland and the EU, as it would require the application of personal allowances and associated border checks, to prevent the uncontrolled flow of tax-free goods into either Northern Ireland or the EU.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the revenue which would be accrued from applying Duty Free allowances to people departing from Great Britain to the European Union.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Allowances are generally not applied to outbound passengers. Instead, goods will be taxed upon arrival in the destination country (subject to any duty free allowances available in that country).
Inbound passengers to the UK are usually entitled to duty free allowances, which allow them to bring in goods up to certain limits without paying UK taxes, providing they are for personal use or to be gifted. Details of those allowances can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/bringing-goods-into-uk-personal-use/arriving-in-Great-Britain
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of applying the duty-free allowance to people departing from Great Britain to the European Union.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Allowances are generally not applied to outbound passengers. Instead, goods will be taxed upon arrival in the destination country (subject to any duty free allowances available in that country).
Inbound passengers to the UK are usually entitled to duty free allowances, which allow them to bring in goods up to certain limits without paying UK taxes, providing they are for personal use or to be gifted. Details of those allowances can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/bringing-goods-into-uk-personal-use/arriving-in-Great-Britain
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of allowing duty free purchases to be made on landing in Great Britain.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Current duty-free policy avoids large quantities of untaxed goods entering the UK market, while reducing operational burdens at the border and supporting wider health objectives.
The Government keeps all taxes under review as part of the policy making process.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Chelmsford (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of taxing imported fertilizer but not imported food on ensuring that British farming remains globally competitive.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Overall, the Government does not expect the introduction of the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) on fertiliser to have a significant impact on UK farmers.
The UK’s core tariff schedule, known as the UK Global Tariff (UKGT), sets out the tariff rates that apply to all imported goods balancing the interests of UK consumers, producers, productivity, competitiveness and external trade. A large proportion of agri-food and fertiliser imports enter the UK tariff free. This is either because the tariff applied on the specific product under the UK Global Tariff schedule is zero or because the product is eligible for a zero-duty preferential tariff when imported from countries with which the UK has signed a bilateral trade deal.
Additionally, the UK operates an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). This is the UK’s principal carbon pricing mechanism and covers the manufacturing of fertiliser. In recent years, UK-based fertiliser manufacturers have received more free allowances than they needed to surrender to cover their emissions.
The UK CBAM rate charged on imports, including fertiliser, will reflect the carbon price paid by domestic industries after support mechanisms (such as free allowances) have been taken into account. As a result, we expect initial liabilities arising from the UK CBAM to be relatively low whilst encouraging the supply and use of fertiliser with lower levels of embodied carbon than would otherwise have been the case.
More generally, about 70% of UK agri-food imports come from the EU. The EU also have an Emissions Trading Scheme and will introduce a CBAM from January 2026; both of which include fertiliser. This means that fertiliser used by EU farmers will also have been subject to a carbon price. At the same time, many non-EU food imports cannot be produced in the UK.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that those flying from Belfast airports to the EU can buy duty-free goods.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government has no plans to reform duty-free shopping between Northern Ireland and the EU, which would require border controls between Northern Ireland and Ireland and would run counter to the principles of the Windsor Framework.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will hold discussions with (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) other Cabinet colleagues on duty-free shopping in Northern Ireland airports when travelling to and from destinations in the EU.
Answered by Steve Baker
The Government is committed to maintaining unfettered access for NI to the whole UK market, as well as full access to the EU market, along with our commitment to avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland.
Enabling duty-free shopping between Northern Ireland and the EU (of which Ireland is a member) without also introducing border controls on the island of Ireland would lead to significant distortions of trade as well as a significant revenue loss for both UK and Ireland, as it would otherwise create a legal route for unlimited amounts of alcohol and tobacco to flow into the UK market duty-free.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to reinstating tax-free shopping for tourists, and what stage the review by the Office for Budget Responsibility has reached into the potential benefits of doing so.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Government is welcoming industry submissions on the VAT Retail Export Scheme and the associated airside scheme (tax-free shopping). The Government will continue to accept representations and consider this new information carefully, alongside broader data.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is independent. It has announced it is reviewing the costing of the abolition of tax-free shopping in 2020. The OBR has stated that it will aim to publish it’s conclusions alongside the Spring Budget.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to reinstating VAT-free shopping for international visitors; and what assessment they have made of the impact that this would have on (1) tourism, (2) retail, (3) the hospitality sector, and (4) the overall economy.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Government analysis conducted in 2022 found that introducing a worldwide scheme could come at a fiscal cost of around £2 billion each year.
The government’s costings calculate the direct cost of the policy to the exchequer, taking into account behavioural effects. The wider economic impacts of the policy are considered by the OBR through the indirect effects process.