New Travel Processes and How They Might Affect You

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Here at Charteris Management, we’re extremely proud to have a diverse base of contractors, many whom hold an EU citizenship or come from further afield. The Government recently released new guidelines about the travel logistics with careful consideration to the difficulties of COVID-19, and with the preparatory advice enabling you to stay on the correct side of Brexit legislation changes.

We are now more than halfway through the summer holidays and many of you will be considering traveling before the end of August, we would like to remind you of a few key rule changes that have been introduced this year.

Whether your travelling ventures are for business or pleasure, we at Charteris Management would like to ask you to read carefully and prepare well enough in advance before you set off on your journey.

One of the obvious factors to consider before traveling is COVID-19, and the restrictions in each country. These rules apply to the country that you’re landing in and on your return to the United Kingdom. Please remember the status of a country on the UK’s traffic-light system can change quickly. Please do your research on case numbers in the country you are choosing to travel too. You can view the current list of country restrictions can be found by clicking here.

There have also been changes to the passport/visa paperwork and insurance requirements for travelers visiting the EU also. If you would like to know more about this, you can find more information on the Gov.UK website here.

The media has covered all of the above pretty well, but recently there has been a few new rules that you may not be completely aware of. These could possibly affect you if you travel to or from the United Kingdom with goods or cash for personal or business use. Below you can find a couple of examples.

Here are a couple of examples:

If you are leaving Great Britain with commercial goods in your luggage or in a small vehicle, you must declare the goods before you leave by making one of the following:

  • A full export declaration
  • A simple online declaration
  • An oral declaration at the ‘goods to declare’ channel or the red point phone in the customs area at the port or airport
  • A Declaration by conduct (not available if you carry commercial excise goods of any value)

Your full customs declaration must be submitted before you leave the United Kingdom if the goods you carry are worth more than £1,500 or they weigh more than 1,000kg. This is also the case if the goods you’re carrying are classed as an excise (i.e. alcohol, tobacco or fuel) or controlled goods (for example, toxic chemicals, firearms, knifes, etc)

If your goods don’t meet these criteria then you can do one of the following:

  • Make a simple online declaration in the five days before you leave GB
  • Make an oral declaration to Border Force officials
  • Or, make a declaration by conduct.

More information on what you need to do when moving commercial goods in your baggage in or out of the United Kingdom is available on GOV.UK YouTube Channel here.

 If you are travelling to the EU this summer, what if you want to still bring goods back to Great Britain without paying duty and VAT?

You can bring some goods from the EU without having to pay UK tax or duty – these goods must be intended for personal use or you’re planning to give them as a gift.
The amount of goods that you can bring in is known as your ‘personal allowance’ (don’t get that confused with your tax code Personal Allowance!). The personal allowance rules apply whether you bought the goods from a shop on a high street, or at a duty-free shop at the airport, in the country that you visited.

HMRC has developed an online declaration service on which you can check your personal allowance to see what tax and duties may be due, declare any goods and pay any tax or duty.

For more information and a short video outlining details of personal allowances for the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland simply click here to view more.

 The rules above do not cover the import/export requirements of the EU country you are visiting – once again, please plan ahead and do your research.

What if you are thinking about taking cash in and out of Great Britain?

In this section we will discuss the carrying of cash of fairly significant amount. We know it likely won’t affect many of you or even business travellersm but it is still extremely important information to know.

If you are leaving or entering Great Britain with cash amounting to £10,000 or more, you must declare it to UK customs authorities. This also applies if you’re carrying that amount from Great Britain to Northern Ireland (but not the other way round – NI to GB). You must declare cash in the three days before you travel.

You can declare online for:

  • Cash you’re carrying between Great Britain and any other country
  • Cash you’re carrying between Northern Ireland and a non-EU country, this includes Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

Again, the rules above do not cover requirements for cash declarations at your destination country.

Hopefully we have helped clear up a few questions that you have surrounding the transportation of personal goods and monies. We know that this year has been difficult to say the least, and that the guidelines, restrictions and legislation pertaining to travel, especially between the UK and EU, many change in the coming months. Charteris Management will try to keep all of you updated with the latest news and updates coming from the Government, but it’s always best to check Gov.UK for all the information you need before you head off on your travels.

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