Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 17 Apr 1991

Vol. 407 No. 1

Written Answers. - Import Costs.

Ivan Yates

Ceist:

126 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for Finance if he will review the deferred payment accounts system operated by importers and medium sized freight forwarders, whereby they are currently obliged to provide very high levels of financial guarantees for all imported goods in relation to VAT requirements; if he will consider adopting the West German system, whereby for bona fide operators, the upfront guarantees would only be required for a percentage of the tax requirement, as opposed to the full amount; and in view of the need to reduce transport costs and expedite customs clearance, if he will review the current system.

Minister for Finance (Mr. A. Reynolds)

I consider the financial guarantee to be a vital element of the present scheme for deferred payment of VAT on imports and, consequently, I have no proposals to alter the requirements of a guarantee sufficient to cover the amount payable in respect of any one month. In any event, the EC intention is that VAT at point of entry will have to be discontinued for intra-EC trade after 1992 and the whole arrangement will have to be reviewed in that context.