Legal News | 29.01.21

LEGAL UPDATE: BREXIT BUSINESS GRANTS

Government guidance has recently been released outlining customs declaration grants that may be available to your business.

What you can apply for

1. You may be able to apply for one of the following grants:
   Recruitment, training and IT improvements to help your business to complete customs declarations;
2. Co-funded training project to help your business complete customs declarations; or
3. Trader-training to understand customs.

Who can apply

You may be entitled to apply for a grant if your business has previously failed to meet its tax obligations and is either currently established in the UK or has been established in the UK for at least 12 months before submitting the application.
Your business must also meet one of the following requirements:

1. Complete or intend to complete customs declarations on behalf of your clients;
2. Be an importer or exporter and complete, or intend to complete, declarations internally for your own goods;
3. Be an organisation which recruits, trains and places apprentices in businesses to undertake customs declarations; or
4. Trade with the EU and do not intend to complete your own declarations, but want to undertake customs training.

Amounts of funding available

Recruitment grant

The grant will give you £3,000 towards recruitment costs for each new employee. Upfront recruitment costs will not be covered for an employee redeployed from another part of the business, unless this is part of an external recruitment campaign.
You could also get up to £12,000 to cover the salary costs for each new or redeployed employee.

Training grant

The grant will give you up to 100% of the actual costs of externally-provided training for your employees, up to a limit of £1,500 for each employee on the course.
It will also cover the cost of training you run internally, up to a limit of £250 for each employee on the course.

IT improvements

The grant will give you 100% of the costs relating to your IT expenditure to improve the efficiency of making customs declarations.

State aid limitations

These grants will give you up to 200,000 euros, which is the maximum amount of state aid available. This limit applies to the total of all grants applications received in the last three years.

If you would like more specific advice on the impact of Brexit on your business or whether these grants may be available to you then please get in touch with your usual contact or email: oliver.price@wansbroughs.com.