Brown faces ultimatum on Channel Isles
Chancellor has two months to lower the threshold of the UK Government’s low value consignment relief from £18 to £7.
The Forum of Private Business (FPB), a
pressure group that acts on behalf of private businesses, has demanded that
Gordon Brown lower the
threshold of the UK Government’s
low
value consignment relief (LVCR) from £18 to £7 or face a judicial review in
two months time.
The FPB is a critic of the Channel Islands VAT loophole, which it claims
gives large firms operating on the islands an unfair advantage in markets such
as the sale of DVDs, CDs, health supplements and contact lenses.
LVCR enables individual goods with a value of £18 or less to be imported to
the UK without the imposition of VAT.
FPB campaigns manager Victoria Carson said the government had to lower the
threshold and said the easiest course of action would be for the UK Government
to lower the threshold and then request a total derogation.
If no action is taken, the FPB said it would have no choice but to bring
judicial review proceedings.
Further reading:
Government moves to seal Channel Islands tax loophole
Guernsey closes shop on VAT loophole
Offshore evaders face scrutiny