Business which move goods between the UK and other EU Member States are required to submit supplementary declarations for statistical purposes under the Intrastat regime.
These can be known as Supplementary Statistical Declarations (‘SSDs’), Intrastat Supplementary Declarations (‘ISDs’) or just Supplementary Declarations (‘SDs’).
An EU-wide agreement requires each member State to submit statistics for 97 per cent of EU trade. Consequently, each country sets a monetary threshold above which declarations must be filed, in order to fulfil this agreement.
From 1 January 2009, the threshold in the UK was increased from £260,000 to £270,000, meaning that businesses whose annual value of Intra-Community sales or acquisitions is below that threshold, will not be required to submit despatches or arrivals declarations respectively. Whether or not the threshold has been exceeded is determined by the correct Box 8 and 9 values on VAT returns for the appropriate year.
Member States are also required to collect information to enable the accurate calculation of statistical value. This requirement determines a further monetary level above which businesses must also show delivery terms on their declarations. From 1 January 2009 in the UK, that threshold is increased from £14,500,000 to £16,000,000.
HMRC has also confirmed its commitment to simplify the Intrastat system and reduce the burden on affected businesses, whilst maintaining the quality of statistics provided to those who need and use them. An ongoing project with other Member States is working towards removing more small traders from the system. Details are expected soon and should take effect from 1 January 2010.
