Brexiteers have urged ministers to ensure the UK maintains its sovereignty, as legislation dealing with post-transition tax regulations passed through the Commons.
MPs approved the Taxation (Post-Transition Period) Bill at third reading after a Labour amendment calling on the Government “to get a move on” and provide businesses with information about tax changes after the December 31 deadline was defeated at report stage.
The Bill seeks to introduce the framework for customs duty charges on goods arriving in Northern Ireland from Great Britain and other countries, as well as a customs duty charge for goods arriving in Great Britain from Northern Ireland that do not qualify for unfettered access to UK markets.
Conservative MP Sir Bill Cash had tabled amendments which sought to reintroduce controversial powers to enable ministers to breach international law, but withdrew them after Treasury minister Jesse Norman described them as “unnecessary” following an agreement between the UK and the EU.
Similar powers were dropped from the UK Internal Market Bill following confirmation that the UK and the EU had reached an agreement on the implementation of the divorce deal, resolving issues relating primarily to the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Brexiteer Sir Bill also warned peers in the House of Lords against attempting to “override” MPs over the Brexit legislation.
The chairman of the European Scrutiny Committee said: “It is absolutely essential that we maintain our sovereignty and the decisions have to be taken by Parliament and should not be taken by the House of Lords, which are unelected.”
Fellow Conservative Brexiteer Sir John Redwood said the Bill was a “great missed opportunity”.
He told the Commons: “This should have been the Bill, I think, when we started to cut the taxes, reorganise the taxes, celebrating our new freedoms as we leave the European Union.
“There is so much we could do by remodelling and reducing the instance of VAT, for example, and having excise duties and tariffs which make sense for British business and for British importers – because we need to balance the two. But instead, it is a rather technical Bill.”
Shadow economic secretary Pat McFadden warned the Government about a lack of clarity for businesses over the new taxation plans despite the end of the transition period being just 16 days away.
Mr McFadden told MPs: “So the Government is asking businesses to absorb, prepare for and comply with a new series of taxation regulations – which those businesses haven’t yet seen – and to do so over a two-week period coinciding with the biggest holiday of the year.
“And they are doing that at the end of a year in which the very same businesses have already faced unprecedented turbulence in the wake of a global pandemic.
“The businesses concerned don’t want to fall foul of regulations, they want to comply, they want to be able to get this right.”
But Mr Norman said the Bill is a “cornerstone” of the UK’s preparations for the end of the transition period.
He told MPs: “In just over two weeks’ time, the transition period will end. The UK and its tax system must be ready to support the smooth continuation of business across this country.
“In that regard, the Taxation (Post-Transition Period) Bill is a cornerstone of those preparations.
“In addition, it will play an important part in helping to implement the Northern Ireland Protocol and to safeguard the Good Friday Agreement.”
The Bill will be debated in the Lords on Wednesday, but is not expected to be amended.
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