Playing and touring in the EU post Brexit

chickenbonejohn

Has anybody got direct experience? I used to go to Europe 2 or 3 times a year before Brexit to do a few gigs, small festivals  and guitar workshops, typically 10-15 days on the road, but since Brexit I've not done it as things seemed too complicated and expensive, and my touring partner had decided to stop doing gigs. I've got some potential work offered and I'm re-thinking things. I understand about getting a carnet for my van & equipment, and having to pay VAT on merchandise and goods imported in the the EU, but I'm not too sure about a couple of things. Do we need a work permits or visas? It seems that we wouldn't, but I'm not 100% certain and I want to get things researched and sorted before I commit. How do I deal with paying tax on my earnings - is it declared and paid in UK or in the country where the work is done? The work is in Germany, but could also include Belgium and Netherlands. Some payments may be in cash, but it's possible that some may be paid direct into my bank account. That's happened before and I set up an online  Euros bank account that's registered in Germany. I wonder if I'm over-thinking things, but if I do this I need to be 100% certain that I won't run into problems. Theres no way that I can do this "under the radar", as I'll be going with my business partner, taking a van, with loads of tools, workbenches and parts to do guitar making workshops, and it's likely that I might have to take a full PA as well as my guitars & amps etc. Any advice based on practical experience would be greatly appreciated.

mike257

Hi - I'm a tour manager and spend a lot of my road time in Europe.  Main issues here:

Carnet:

There is an exemption for personal musical equipment when it's (1) owned by yourself (2) travelling in your vehicle with you.  This only includes instruments and a vaguely worded "accessories required for the instrument to produce sound".  The generally accepted line is that guitars, pedals, amps, drums will tick the box but mixing consoles, IEM systems, playback rigs, PA etc wouldn't be exempt - at which point you'd need to do a carnet for the whole lot.   For what you're doing, you'd also need to list all your tools etc.

The carnet needs to list all equipment and accessories, along with the value.  This should be quoted as no higher than a realistic resale value for the kit.  

A carnet can be bonded for anywhere from 2 months to 12 months, and for as many/as few territories as needed. The cost increases with the duration and the amount of territories you need it to cover - so a 2 month EU only carnet is cheaper than a 12 month that also covers US and Australia, for example.  You can't add items to a carnet after it's been issued, so it's best to list everything you're likely to take, and then you mark which items you're actually carrying on your paperwork when getting stamped at border crossings.  You also need to name authorised persons who can use the carnet, so would put you, your business partner, and anyone else you might travel with - although you can add a "Letter Of Authorisation" for any additional people you need to be able to use it. 

You need to get stamped out of the uk and also in to the territory you're crossing in to - so you'd typically go to either the Inland Border Facility at Sevington, which is a miserable place and takes ages queuing with angry truck drivers, or to Motis at Dover, where you have to pay a tenner to park up but it's a much quicker turnaround and there's a cheap truckers cafe upstairs to get a bite while you wait. You'd then stamp in at the Douane (French customs) office in Calais when you get off the ferry.  This is reasonably well signposted with orange "Douane" signs when you disembark the ferry.  If you're on the tunnel, you can actually stamp in to France before boarding the train by pulling over to the Douane office just after the French passport check. Once you're in the EU you don't need to deal with any other borders unless you're passing through Switzerland or Norway, both of which have their own customs thing going on - you also need to bear this in mind when you're deciding which territories to bond your carnet for. 

My go to suppliers for touring carnets are Freight Minds or Rock-It Global.  You'll be able to get all the advice you need from them.

You also need a GMR (Goods Movement Reference) for your vehicle for every crossing in/out of the UK.  This is a reference number tied to your vehicle and the specific journey, and you log your carnet number against the GMR too.  You can sign up to the Goods Vehicle Movement Service so that you can generate your own GMR, but you need an EORI number first.  It might be easier to get your carnet provider to do it for you (or if you're stuck, drop me a line as I do my own and have all the necessary systems access).  

Merch:

Merch for sale should be declared at the wholesale value - you'll be taxed on the full value of it all and can reclaim the difference on export.  Most touring bands now get a short merch run printed in the EU and delivered to their first show to avoid all of the faff, rather than carrying merch in from the UK and having to pay the taxes and duties.

Work Permits:

You're fine on this one, with the caveat that you can only be in the Schengen zone for 90 days in the previous 180 - this is on a rolling basis. 

Payments:

Not sure how it would work for your workshops, but for touring, most countries will charge a withholding tax on the artist's fee as a percentage of your gross income.  Some (but not all) countries will allow you to evidence your expenses and reduce this to a percentage of your net.  You're not supposed to be double taxed and there's legislation and tax agreements to prevent this, but how you record this in your own tax returns is probably a chat for your accountant.

You'll also need to apply for an A1 certificate from HMRC.  This is a document that proves you pay social security in the UK (so exempting you from paying it in other territories).  There's two forms - one to apply for a single country, one to apply for multiple countries.  Some countries are hotter on this than others - I've had Italian venues tell me they'll refuse to let the touring party in the building if they haven't been provided with these forms up front.  Unfortunately, the processing time for an application is currently pretty ridiculous, with some people waiting over a year (but some getting done in a couple of weeks).  Promoters are usually happy to take proof of application in the short term, with a view that you'll forward the certificate once it's received. 


Sorry for the essay but hope that answers some of your questions!  Give me a shout if there's anything that doesn't make sense.

chickenbonejohn

That's very helpful thanks. I'd figured out the merch situation and had a broad understanding of the carnet, but that's a much fuller explanation of the process. We have an EORI number as we are constantly importing and exporting and guitars and parts a daily part of our business.

mike257

Great stuff - should be pretty quick to get set up on the GVMS if you've already got the EORI, then you can get your own Goods Movement Reference in about 5 mins when you need one. It does take a few hours for your account to go live when you first use it, so worth doing in advance of your first trip (as I discovered when I had to set one up in a rush and sit outside Holyhead IBF pressing refresh waiting before I could stamp out for a ferry to Dublin!)

chickenbonejohn

That's been super helpful. I've got a fair bit of research to do to figure out the costs of everything involved, but I should be soon in position to determine whether this is going to be financially viable and then I can start planning a schedule.

mike257

Lovely stuff - feel free to shout if I can be of any help!