Grant funding for Brexit costs

HMRC has announced that a £16m fund has been made available from which businesses can claim grants to cover certain costs associated with Brexit.

On 31st October 2019 the UK will leave the European Union. Businesses will have to apply the same customs rules to goods moving between the EU and UK as they would for the rest of the world.

As a result, HMRC is investing a further £16 million in its grant programme to fund employee training and IT improvements for customs intermediaries, traders and hauliers that make customs declarations. Businesses based in, or with a branch in the UK can apply for one or both grants.

What is the Customs Training and IT Grant?
There are two grants available, one for training costs and one for IT costs. The costs must relate to the completion of Customs declarations for imports from or exports to the EU, whether the declarations are (or will be) completed for the business itself or for other businesses.

Each business is eligible to receive up to 200,000 Euro for IT costs and up to £250 per person for in-house training or up to £2,250 per course.

To be eligible for the grants, the business must have a UK establishment and a good tax record. For the IT grant, the business must have 250 employees or fewer and an annual turnover of less than 50 million Euro.

There are information requirements and time limits, so applications should only be made when each business is prepared. However, speed is of the essence as applications will close on 31st January 2020 (or earlier if funding is fully allocated). Applications can be made online where further details can be found here.

Contact one of the team at JRW for further advice about how to make a claim.

By Kevin Crowford, Partner