Select a region
Changes that would have seen the minimum level for paying GST on imported goods for personal use lowered from £240 to £135 have been postponed until 2021 due to the covid-19 pandemic.
The changes, outlined in the Government Plan 2020-23, were due to take place from 1 July, but the Treasury and Resources Minister, Deputy Susie Pinel, has now deferred them until January 2021.
She said she had made the decision to help manage the current pressures on hauliers, postal workers and customs officers.
Under the planned changes, the value of goods which could be imported - mainly through the postal system - without paying GST would have dropped from £240 to £135.
Pictured: Treasury Minister, Deputy Susie Pinel.
“Following discussions with the Agent of the Impot, it became clear that the degree of human intervention required to manage the reduced GST de minimis level by freight handlers; postal workers; and customs officers would be difficult to manage alongside all the other priority work now being undertaken by these organisations at this challenging time,” Deputy Pinel said.
“I also recognise that it would not be appropriate to reduce the de minimis level at a time when people are increasingly reliant upon home deliveries.”
Treasury and Exchequer will release further information about the change to the de minimis level later in the year.
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.