Explanatory note
United Kingdom
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
Council Directive 2010/24/EUf1 (“MARD”) is about mutual assistance between EU member States for the recovery of claims relating to taxes, duties and other specified measures. The Finance Act 2011 (c. 11), Schedule 25 makes provision for giving effect to that directive.
These Regulations make procedural, supplementary and adaptive provision for that Schedule, mainly by adopting without repetition the remaining provisions of MARD needing transposition.
So, starting on 1 January 2012, these Regulations ensure that MARD is fully transposed into United Kingdom law for both claims made to the United Kingdom by another member State, and claims made by the United Kingdom to another member Statef2.
The Articles of MARD adopted or mentioned in these Regulations are as follows.
| Articles of MARD | Regulations of this instrument that adopt or mention them | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| 5 to 7 | 2 to 4 | Exchange of information between the authorities, and participation by officials of the authority requesting assistance in resulting administrative enquiries. |
| 8 and 9 | 5, 9 | Assistance by the authority to which the request for assistance is made for the notification of claim documents to the addressee. |
| 10 to 17 | 5 to 7, 10 to 12 | Procedures for the recovery of claims and for requests for precautionary measures, including use of a uniform instrument permitting enforcement, disputes about the claim, and amendment or withdrawal of requests for assistance. |
| 18 and 19 | 5, 7, 13 | Limits to obligations to grant assistance, and questions on limitation periods. |
| 20 | 14 | Recovery and allocation of costs. |
| 21 and 22 | 4(2), 15, 16 | Standard forms and means of communication, and use of languages, as between the respective authorities. |
| 23 | 17 | Provision about disclosure and use of information communicated under MARD. |
In addition, regulation 8 of this instrument adapts the operation of the rules, for most MARD purposesf3, about HM Revenue & Customs requiring third parties to provide contact details for debtors.
Regulation 18 of and the Schedule to this instrument revoke spent Regulations relating to the mutual assistance rules in force before 2012.
A Tax Information and Impact Note covering this instrument was published on 23 March 2011 alongside the Finance Bill 2011 and is available on the HMRC website at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/thelibrary/tiins.htm. It remains an accurate summary of the impacts that apply to this instrument.
Annotations
Footnotes
- f1
-
OJ No L 84, 31.3.10, p 1. In addition, Commission Regulation (EU) No 1189/2011 (OJ No L 302, 19.11.11, p 16) lays down detailed implementing rules in relation to certain provisions of MARD.
- f2
-
A Transposition Note is available at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk.
- f3
-
This is especially relevant for Article 5 of MARD (which is covered by regulation 2 of this instrument).