Brexit: fiscal corollary

What will be the impact of the Brexit withdrawal agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union?

The Dutch Junior Finance Minister in charge of Taxation and Tax and Customs Administration in a recently published decree has gone into detail on the fiscal corollary of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal – effective the first of February 2020 – from the European Union.

The withdrawal agreement spells out – among other things – the terms and conditions governing the transition period, which kicked in on the first of February and is scheduled to expire on the final day of December 2020. By and large the United Kingdom is to continue being governed by Community law throughout the transition period, with the UK continuing to be treated as an EU Member State where Community law and the national regulations in implementation thereof are concerned. The need for national transitional law to address a “no deal” scenario has been removed.

The withdrawal agreement has made it possible for the United Kingdom and the EU Member States throughout the transition period to continue trading as if the United Kingdom were still an EU member, with the UK’s residents retaining EU Member State resident status until year-end 2020. It has moreover been agreed that the withdrawal agreement should have no impact on:

• those who are eligible for foreign tax payer status,
• the tax component (as opposed to the national insurance component) of particular tax credits,
• the application of the participation exemption as regards the stake in a UK-based participating interest,
• tax entities operating a UK-based principal holding company or intermediate company.

As for indirect taxes such as turnover tax, excise duties and motor vehicle tax, here too the United Kingdom will continue until the thirty-first of December 2020 to be treated as an EU Member State.

Dutch version: Fiscale gevolgen Brexit