December 2009

Welcome to CCL's December 2009 newsletter

Welcome to the December newsletter from Customs Clearance Ltd. We’re sending you our Seasons Greetings and all best wishes for health, happiness and prosperity in the year ahead.

Festive greetings from Rudee and the team at CCL!

We – the owners of Customs Clearance Ltd - would like to say a big ‘thank you’ to the CCL community – our staff, contractors and associates, for helping to make the last 12 months run smoothly and successfully. 2009 hasn’t been easy for anybody and we recognise and appreciate the hard work and effort that has gone into keeping our business moving forward - thanks for your commitment.

Of course we’re sending a huge ‘thank you’ too, to all our customers, for your continued support and your business, particularly as this year has been so challenging. We sincerely hope to be able to continue being of service to every one of you throughout the year ahead, meeting your needs and exceeding your expectations.

It’s great to hear from you if you have comments or feedback on our newsletter – we like to know you’re reading it! Our special mention this month goes to Gavin Burgess, Managing Director of Burgess Logistic Solutions (www.burgesslogisticsolutions.co.uk), a family run express courier and logistics business based in Derbyshire. We were delighted that our newsletter prompted you to invite us to quote for your business!

If you have time for a quick break between the endless round of office parties, play our game again this month. We ‘de-Christmassified’ it after its first outing, but it’s still a great test of hand-eye coordination, so you could have some fun as long as your eyes aren’t too glassy or your hands too shaky! Click here to test your flying skills and geography knowledge!

We hope you find this issue of value, and don’t forget, for any customs and importation queries, even over the festive season, make our friendly and approachable Customer Services team on +44 (0)20 8231 0900 your first port of call.

We like to keep a camera close at hand at our parties! Enjoying the seasonal festivities here are Daniela, Anj and Marie from CCL with Simon and Duncan from LINC

Pre Budget Report: Accountants and Business Advisors James Cowper LLP have produced a really useful guide to the 2009 Pre-Budget Report. We found it useful, and you might too. Click here to view.

HMRC Annual revalorisation of the Euro to pound sterling: Click here to access the HMRC’s CIP (09) 77 which details changes which come into effect on 1st January 2010.

Import Licensing: The Government department concerned with import/export has recently changed. The Import Licensing Branch (ILB) now comes under the auspices of BIS, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills. ILB advises that the majority of goods can now be imported into the UK without the need to apply for an import license. There are some notable exceptions, for example: certain textiles from Belarus, North Korea and Uzbekistan, iron and steel and firearms and ammunition. ILB publicises restrictions by issuing Notices to Importers and all current Notices can be found here.

Shopping on the Internet: Buying goods on the internet is an increasingly popular way of shopping and today, we can easily acquire goods from all over the world. HMRC has published a useful guide covering issues such as Customs duty and import VAT, which may apply to the goods that you buy, depending on their value, and their country of origin. Often these are not detailed by the vendor and they can come as something of a surprise. Click here to access HMRC’s advice and click here to access HMRC’s Internet Shopping FAQs.

VAT rules: As we advised last month, changes to cross-border VAT rules come into effect from 1st January 2010. The changes represent a significant reform of the VAT regime applying to services and introduce important changes to the intra-EU reporting regime for goods. To comply, businesses will need to make changes to their VAT accounting and reporting processes. Find out more and assess whether these changes affect you on the HMRC web site here.

Conferences events: It’s confirmed! We’ll be at the 2nd WCA Family Annual Worldwide Conference, from 14-17 January in Bangkok, Thailand. If you’re going to be there, let us know – it’s always great to meet up and put a face to a name.

A Christmas Coffee Break Story: We thought you might like a second chance to enjoy our most seasonal Coffee Break Story from last year. Click here for our tale of the mysterious visitor, who arrived at our office seeking some help on Christmas Eve....

Warmest greetings to all!