This will affect us all ! Brexit , pandemic , lockdown …Brexit!
 Dear Retailers Wow what a year 2020 has been for you all !! As retailers you have not only had to contend with the talk of Brexit , then a pandemic followed by lockdowns and now back to the dreaded B word !! I stumbled across an article at the weekend that ignited my thoughts about us all with the Brexit decision looming, I found the article quite helpful and thought I would send a little checklist for you all to have a read. However, I don’t claim to be a professional political follower or understand where we will be with our trade deals but hopefully this may help a few of you to get the house in order before we leave. Enjoy !!! ….. 1) Really important to make sure you know your EORI ( Economic Operators Registration and identification ) number, you will find many brands and agents will need these to give to brands in Europe for them to use for the transport of your goods, not having this number may delay your deliveries. If you do not have one you can easily apply, this normally takes up to a week ; Contact EORI team online or 0300 322 7067. www.gov.uk/eori * Don’t miss this* …have the below ready before you start the application, i wish i had! …VAT number and effective date of registration – these are on your VAT registration certificateNational Insurance number – if you’re an individual or a sole traderUnique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) – business start date and Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code – these are in the Companies House registerGovernment Gateway user ID and password 2) Another little tip was to make your VAT returns monthly to try to smooth out any issues associated with three- month build ups of VAT, discuss this with your accountants/bookkeepers see if this might suit you ? 3) Although i don’t know if this will apply to us in Fashion, i thought it would be good to include; Most traders with a good compliance record will be able to defer import declarations on most goods for up to six months after Jan 1 2021, if the goods are eligible for staged controls. 4) This could be helpful to us all – For any goods imported from anywhere in the world it is possible for business’ to postpone VAT accounting to account for import VAT on your VAT returns. 5) Its very rare for any of you to receive a consignment that does not exceed £135 in value but if you do…then there is No VAT due at the border, of course double check this with your accountants!! …it’s worth checking out. The most important link is this www.gov.uk/transition , here it gives you a personalised list of actions after you answer just a few questions. You can also sign up for emails to get updates for what you need to do. NOW ….don’t panic. I haven’t gone and got a job with the government After chatting with the JEAgency team via Zoom yesterday , the girls and I wanted to take this opportunity to send you our love and thoughts and how very proud we are of all our independents…we are always here at the end of the phone for a chat , gossip or ear to let off some steam!  Lots of Love Joanna , Amy, Lesley & Leigh.xxx |