Free Ports

[Kelly Firefox]

The government are creating some of these new free ports, can anybody please explain to me how this will effect the cost of importing goods from overseas? thank you

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

A simple search finds this (from the Guardian):

"Companies operating within free ports can benefit from deferring the payment of taxes until their products are moved elsewhere, or can avoid them altogether if they bring in goods to store or manufacture on site before exporting them again."

 

[IanSuth]

From how i understand it what it does is move customs/point at which import duties are due - from the entrance of the dock to the border of the freeport area. So if you import something to the freeport, work it into another product and reexport you never have to pay any uk import duty - if you import it from the freeport into the UK you pay the relevant duty on the finished product.

(there are other incentives as well re employers NI i think)

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Sorry, I should also have said that for most people, there is no impact/implication to the normal import process.

 

[Customs Geek]

Using a freeport is another option for importers to choose If they want to take advantage of specific duty deferral and mitigation. There are also similar duty deferral schemes such as customs bonded warehousing , or inward processing that have similar effects and have been around for years

The main benefit of the Freeports is around tax incentives and funding for locating new manufacturing in the free port area.

 

[tony84]

Didnt Nadhim Zahawi buy some land a week or so before these were announced?
I cant help but think buying some land in one of the areas can only be a good investment for your money.

 

[IanSuth]

Didnt Nadhim Zahawi buy some land a week or so before these were announced?
I cant help but think buying some land in one of the areas can only be a good investment for your money.

They are not new (Liverpool Freeport was a big think in the 90's), i believe all the research showed they tend to divert investment from other areas rather than increase the overall investment.

So buying land just inside a boundary just about to be announced would likely be a good investment, as would selling land in an area a little bit outside (which would likely suffer the worst detriment)

 

[Duke Fame]

A simple search finds this (from the Guardian):

"Companies operating within free ports can benefit from deferring the payment of taxes until their products are moved elsewhere, or can avoid them altogether if they bring in goods to store or manufacture on site before exporting them again."

The Guardian is never a good source for interpretating anything connected to business.

 

[Duke Fame]

Using a freeport is another option for importers to choose If they want to take advantage of specific duty deferral and mitigation. There are also similar duty deferral schemes such as customs bonded warehousing , or inward processing that have similar effects and have been around for years

The main benefit of the Freeports is around tax incentives and funding for locating new manufacturing in the free port area.

That's my take, if you are manufacturing it's great. Also, if you distribute into the EU?

 

[IanSuth]

I remember a huge construction plant sale at Liverpool freeport of all the gear coming back from constructing Port Stanley airport - the advantage to the sellers was that any equipment immediately reexported (a lot went to Africa) never entered the Uk from a customs point of view so no import duties were due on it. UK Purchasers had to pay it on top of their purchase price from memory

 

[Customs Geek]

I remember a huge construction plant sale at Liverpool freeport of all the gear coming back from constructing Port Stanley airport - the advantage to the sellers was that any equipment immediately reexported (a lot went to Africa) never entered the Uk from a customs point of view so no import duties were due on it. UK Purchasers had to pay it on top of their purchase price from memory

As you mentioned Freeport’s in the UK are not new but those we had fell out of use . At the time of Brexit we only had one left in the IOM if I recall correctly.
We could have continued to have Freeport’s or set up new ones under the EU legislation so despite the political statements they are not a direct benefit of leaving the EU .