“When the UK was in the EU, and during the transition period, (Andrew) Moss and other small businesses did not charge VAT (value-added tax) to customers in other EU countries. But EU rules dictate that VAT must now be paid before goods are received from the UK.
“Moss could not believe what was happening. Loyal customers were being told to pay about 20% extra on top of the quoted price for his goods. Of course, if this continued, they would look elsewhere.
“Moss had three options – and none would be easy. First, he could bite the bullet and pay the VAT himself. This would mean running at a huge loss and was not possible for the long term. Second, he could stop all exports to the EU – this would reduce the size of his business overnight and mean that years of hard work finding customers abroad had been for nothing. Or third, he could set up and register a company in the EU, ship all his goods once a week to avoid the delays and individual Brexit-related payments, and distribute his goods from there. The European branch of his company could then pay the VAT and claim it back from the government of whichever EU member state it was based on.
“To Moss, this looked like the best option, albeit one that would involve short-term costs and effort.
“As he pondered what course to take, Moss contacted his MP, the Conservative Lucy Frazer, warning her that if no help was offered he could have to “sack lots of people”. Frazer put him in touch with a civil servant in the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy who knew nothing about the VAT problem. “It was a complete surprise to him,” said Moss. But the civil servant did refer Moss to a senior trade adviser in the Department for International Trade.
“He confirmed that he couldn’t see any other way,” said Moss. “He told me that what I was thinking of doing was the right thing, that he could see no other option.”
[…]
“I just want somebody to tell me [admit] that Brexit is not about making Britain great again, not about empowering us, not about giving us back our sovereignty, Brexit is about the engine room of Britain investing significantly in Europe.“
“False Dawn”, The Guardian (January 29, 2021)