VAT: Brexit’s hidden border dilemma

The UK will have to choose between costly delays or staying within the EU system. Britain’s borders are sometimes located in unexpected places. One of the busiest sits inside a grey warehouse in an industrial estate five miles from London’s Heathrow airport. Here, every package sent by post from outside the UK weighing less than 2.2kg meets Britain’s Border Force. More than 2m parcels a day can be expected to travel through Royal Mail’s Heathrow Worldwide Distribution Centre, arriving straight from Britain’s ports, reflecting the British ability to be “very good e-shoppers”, according to Jon Thompson, chief executive of HM Revenue & Customs. Read more…