Customs declarations

When goods cross the border, a customs declaration has to be made and submitted to HMRC. A business can do this itself, or it can take on someone else to do it instead. GOV.UK treats this as a choice made for each movement of goods.

Three kinds of help

GOV.UK names three kinds of business that can make a declaration on a trader's behalf. These are a customs agent or broker, a freight forwarder and a fast parcel operator. Each deals with customs paperwork as part of its usual work, though they tend to suit different kinds of shipment.

• A customs agent or broker focuses on customs paperwork and declarations.
• A freight forwarder usually arranges the movement of the goods as well as the paperwork that goes with it.
• A fast parcel operator typically handles smaller, time-sensitive consignments alongside delivery.

Making the declaration yourself

A business can also complete and submit its own declarations. This means having software that connects to HMRC's systems, and someone in the business who understands what the declaration needs to contain and the records that go with it.

A declaration can be made in your name, or in someone else's name on your behalf. GOV.UK describes these as two different kinds of representation, and the difference decides who HMRC holds responsible if the declaration is wrong.

Acting directly

Where an agent acts directly for you, the agent submits the declaration in your name. You are treated as if you had made the declaration yourself, so any mistake in it is your mistake in the eyes of HMRC, even though someone else typed it in.

Acting indirectly

Where an agent acts indirectly for you, the agent submits the declaration in their own name, on your behalf. In this case the agent and your business can both be held responsible for the declaration, including for any duty that turns out to be owed.

Why this stays your concern

Handing a declaration to someone else does not end your part in it. The figures on the declaration, including the commodity code and the value of the goods, still come from information your business provides. Checking that information before it is submitted, and keeping a record of what you gave the agent and when, is what protects you if a declaration is later questioned.

If you decide not to make customs declarations yourself, you can look for someone to do it on your behalf. HMRC keeps a register of businesses that offer this kind of work, including customs agents, customs brokers and express operators that move parcels across the border for other people. You can search the register by name or by the type of help a business offers, which gives you a starting point when you are looking for someone to handle your declarations.

What being on the register does not mean

HMRC is clear that a listing is not an endorsement. A business appears on the register because it has told HMRC it offers this work. HMRC does not vet, approve or recommend any business on the register.

That leaves the checking to you. Before you hire an agent or broker you find there, it is worth asking what experience they have with goods like yours, how they handle a mistake on a declaration, and what paperwork they will give you once a declaration has been made. The register narrows your search. It does not do your due diligence for you.

An import declaration sets out what is moving into the country and what HMRC needs to know to work out the duty and VAT due on it. Two pieces of information sit at the centre of that form: the commodity code and the customs value.

The commodity code

A commodity code is a reference number built from an internationally recognised list, and it describes what the goods actually are. The code determines the rate of duty that applies, whether import VAT is due, and whether a licence or any other control covers the goods. A code copied from an overseas supplier's paperwork is not automatically the right one for a UK import, because classification systems differ between countries, and the business bringing the goods in carries the responsibility for the code it declares. You can read more about finding the right code on the commodity codes and the Trade Tariff page.

The customs value

The customs value is the figure duty and import VAT are calculated against. It is built mainly from the price paid or payable for the goods, with other costs added depending on how far those costs have been paid up to the point the goods reach the UK, such as transport and insurance. The terms agreed with the supplier for who pays which costs, often set out through an Incoterm on the quote, affect what gets added to that figure.

What else a declaration sets out

Alongside the code and the value, a declaration describes the goods and their quantity, states the country where they were produced or manufactured, names the business sending them and the business receiving them, and records the customs procedure they are entering, such as release into free circulation or placement in a warehouse. Each of these entries has to match the invoice, the packing list and any licence held for the goods, because HMRC can check the declaration against that paperwork at any point.

Keeping records

A customs declaration rests on figures that someone worked out before it was submitted: the commodity code, the customs value and the Incoterm agreed with the supplier or buyer. Keep the invoice, correspondence and any calculation that shows how those figures were reached. HMRC can ask to see that paperwork after the goods have already cleared the border, so it needs to still be there when asked for.

Refunds for overpaid duty or rejected goods

Sometimes a business pays more Customs Duty or import VAT than it owed. This can happen when the customs value was worked out too high, when the wrong commodity code was used, or when goods turned out to be faulty and were sent back to the supplier. In these cases a business can ask HMRC to repay the difference, and GOV.UK sets out what to send with a claim to support it.

Telling HMRC about an underpayment

The same thing can go wrong the other way. If a declaration understated what was owed, because the customs value was too low or the wrong commodity code was used, the business needs to tell HMRC. GOV.UK explains how to correct a declaration and how to disclose an underpayment once one has been found.

GOV.UK sets out how to make a customs declaration and what information you need to have ready before you start. Reading that guidance first will tell you whether you are expected to make the declaration yourself or whether you need someone else to do it on your behalf.

If you decide to use someone else, HMRC keeps a register of customs agents and express operators that you can search by name or location. The register lists who offers the service in your area, though it does not tell you how any of them work or what they charge, so that is still something to check with the business itself before you agree anything.

Either page can change the answer to a question the other one raises, so it is worth reading both before you choose how to proceed.