No idea of administrative cost of Brexit deal on business

HMRC has not calculated the administrative cost of the government’s Brexit deal for businesses as part of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill impact assessment HMRC told the Treasury committee.

In an evidence session Jim Harra interim chief executive and permanent secretary HMRC said: ‘We have not provided any impact assessment and certainly in relation to procedures that still have to be worked out in detail between the UK and the EU I am not in a position to do that. We have published what information we think we can that will assist and that is basically the cost of operating customs declarations which apply UK to EU.’

He was not able to provide a ballpark figure on what the additional costs were going to be under these new arrangements for both the UK and the EU. Nor could he give a cost analysis that would cast...