Another turbulent development regarding Brexit is expected in the UK. Aside from the necessity to hold the European Parliament elections, which will take place in the UK already this Thursday, 23 May, Britain faces another big event as soon as the week of 3 June – the British parliament will vote on the draft bill implementing the agreement on leaving the EU.
It is generally expected that the parliament will not approve this draft bill. In this case, it is also expected that Prime Minister Theresa May will announce a near date of her resignation. The Prime Minister’s resignation seems unavoidable, but the key question for the Conservative Party and the whole Brexit process is who will be her successor.
As it stands, the United Kingdom will leave the EU on 31 October 2019. As unlikely as it seems at the moment that the UK would leave the EU at the end of October with no deal, the preliminary favourites of the Prime Minister competition, especially Boris Johnson, are hard Eurosceptics and supporters of the fastest Brexit possible.
The current situation is no more clear than it was in recent months and there are still countless possible options: leaving with the original agreement, which now seems like an option with little probability, revoking Article 50 and thus stopping Brexit, another extension, no deal Brexit, a second referendum (without any agreement about its contents at present), customs union of the UK and the EU, or a combination of the above.
When trading with the UK, we still recommend avoiding taking over long-term commitments (i.e. those exceeding the end of October of this year) without the possibility of their renegotiation reflecting the result of Brexit.
More information about tax and legal impacts and practical tips can be found in our Brexit articles: for example, the article on Lex Brexit or on how to prepare for a no deal option.
The article is part of dReport – May 2019, Tax news; Grants and investment Incentives.
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