SELLERS of horses in Ireland are going to be “squeezed” by some UK buyers due to the 20% VAT rate now applicable to horses imported into Britain post-Brexit, said one of Ireland’s leading producers of show jumping and event horses this week.

International event rider Marti Rudd operates Monbeg Sport Horses in Co Wexford with her husband, show jumper Tomas Doyle, and their operation sells over 40 horses a year to Britain. The first load of 2021 left this week, following lengthy customs and paperwork delays.

The VAT rate has already caused a number of sales to fall through in the first few weeks of the year and with 56% of all horses sold by Irish sellers across the board destined for the UK, the impact on trade is likely to be felt heavily.

“On the load my horses went out on, three buyers from the UK had dropped out because the extra costs made it prohibitive for them to buy those horses at the money that they had agreed with the sellers here. They were going back to the sellers to renegotiate to see if the sellers would absorb some of that 20% VAT and the extra travel costs,” Rudd said.

“I was asked to do the same, and I said no as I felt I would have other options and luckily the buyers didn’t walk away from that. 70% of the horses we sell here [at Monbeg Sport Horses] go to the UK. I hope it won’t affect our business massively long term, but I would say a lot of people in our position are going to try very hard to push for new markets, rather than keep trying to sell to the UK because it is just so difficult.

“It is going to squeeze both sides, not just the people in the UK, but the UK buyers are going to squeeze the Irish sellers and that is just the fact of the matter,” Rudd added.

Revenue

A spokesperson for the Revenue Commissioners in Ireland confirmed that a person importing a horse to Ireland from Britain will pay 13.5% VAT. “This rate applies where the horses are not intended for use in the preparation of foodstuffs or for use in agricultural production.

“The UK’s decision to leave the EU, the Single Market and the Customs Union brings an end to the seamless trade, including in relation to live animal, we have known for years.

“This means that the sale of horses between Ireland and Great Britain is now subject to additional formalities including the submission of customs declarations and other required documentation, the payment of customs duty, if applicable, and the payment of VAT,” the Revenue spokesperson said.

Northern Ireland

There are some reports of people sending horses that have been sold via Belfast to avoid the VAT. Asked about that, Rudd said: “I do know people are going out that way, I haven’t done it. It is always going to be the lower end of the markets that are going to suffer and it will be the horses that feel it in the end.

“The horses we have sold are going to the south of England, so I would not be prepared to let them sit on the lorry for that amount of time.

“Those horses at the bottom end of market might be the ones that go through the sales quite cheap and are going to dealers in England, who can’t afford to pay, not only the 20% VAT but also the extra health paper costs and extra customs cost.

“It was an extra £170 for the horses to go out through the south than it was to go out through the north. That is just on the transport.”

Digital passports

Simon Cooper of Weatherbys told Thursday’s International Thoroughbred Breeders’ Federation (ITBF) webinar that digital passports and Smartcard technology may help ease equine travel.

Weatherbys plans to have its first Digital Passports and Smartcards launched in Britain and Ireland this spring. The digital passport contains all the identification and pedigree details for the horse as well as owner/transfer of ownership data, vaccination and movement records.

“We are trying to get to a place where we can have pre-clearance at the departure point rather than by the man with the clipboard at the port. We don’t need pages and pages of documents to travel. The EHC (export health certificate) is 11 pages long and requires about 25 stamps and signatures and in 2021, this should not be necessary,” said Simon Cooper.

Referring to the equine travel problems triggered by Brexit, Cooper added: “…we are all discovering how much more complicated, in the first few weeks of 2021, how difficult this is now. We are working on this and are in discussions.”

Brexit special report pages 76-77.