HM Revenue and Customs Brief 69/09
Tax Articles
Add an article Back to Articles
Issued 17 November 2009
Intrastat – Changes from 1 January 2010
This Revenue and Customs Brief explains how businesses trading with other EU
Member States could be affected by changes from 1 January 2010.
Changes in Intrastat thresholds from 1 January 2010
- The exemption threshold for arrivals is increased from £270,000 to
£600,000
- The exemption threshold for dispatches is reduced from £270,000 to
£250,000
Background
Community legislation requires the UK to collect information on intra-EU
trade in goods for statistical purposes and sets minimum requirements for the
quantity of trade covered.
Council Regulation (EC) No 638/2004 (The Intrastat Basic Regulation) requires
EU Member States to collect data on a minimum percentage of the total value of
their EU trade in goods. This regulation has been amended by Council Regulation
(EC) No 222/2009. Please note that the minimum requirement for Member States to
collect for their arrivals (intra-EU imports) has been reduced from 97 to 95 per
cent. The requirement for their dispatches (intra-EU Exports) remains at 97 per
cent.
These requirements determine the level at which the exemption thresholds,
which are applied independently to arrivals and dispatches, are set in the UK.
Those traders with an annual intra-EU trade in goods above the specified
exemption thresholds are required to provide monthly statistical returns (Intrastat
Supplementary declarations).
The threshold for arrivals has been increased to £600,000 as a result of the
reduction in the coverage requirement to 95 per cent. The threshold for
dispatches has been reduced to £250,000 due to the current economic downturn and
the consequent reduction in the number of UK businesses trading within the EU.
The revised thresholds ensure that the UK obtains the percentage coverage of the
value of intra-EU trade required by Community legislation whilst at the same
time ensuring that the number of businesses which are required to submit monthly
information is kept to a minimum.
The revised thresholds will be implemented by a Statutory Instrument. This
instrument is being laid before Parliament in the coming weeks and, subject to
Parliament having no objections to it, will come into force on 1 January 2010.
An Impact Assessment of the Simplification of Intrastat can be found at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ria/091026-intrastat-simplification.pdf (PDF 64K)
Other Changes for 2010
The Intrastat Basic Regulation is implemented by Commission Regulation (EC)
No 1982/2004. This regulation has been amended by two Commission Regulations to
be published shortly in the official Journal. The changes will be applied in the
UK from 1 January 2010.
As a result of this some of the reporting requirements have changed as
follows:
- all supplies of goods to British Embassies, Consulates (whether or not
benefiting from diplomatic immunity) and British armed forces bases situated
in other Member States are excluded from Intrastat reporting (with the
exception of the UK Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus, which must continue to be
reported with the partner country CY);
- emergency aid for disaster areas is no longer excluded from Intrastat
reporting;
- sales of new means of transport by VAT-registered businesses to private
individuals in other Member States are no longer excluded from Intrastat
reporting; and
- the reporting Member State (for sales and purchases of vessels and
aircraft, goods delivered to them and products of the sea) is determined
according to where the entity that has ‘economic ownership’ of the vessel or
aircraft is established.
Information regarding these changes will be published on
UK Trade info (Opens new window) and in Notice 60 Intrastat General Guide.
Where appropriate, the Trade Statistics unit will contact businesses affected by
the changes to ensure that they are aware of the new requirement and will work
with them to enable them to meet their obligations.
Further information
Further information on trade statistics can be found online at
UK Trade info (Opens new window) or by phoning UK Trade info Customer
Services on 01702 367485.
About the Author
© Crown Copyright 2009.
A licence is need to reproduce this article and has been republished for
educational / informational purposes only. Article reproduced by permission of
HM Revenue & Customs under the terms of a Click-Use Licence. Tax briefs are
updated regularly and may be out of date at time of reading.
