Special Services

Customs Duty

Any importer of goods from outside the EU must give a high priority to the payment of customs duty and compliance with import and export legislation. Duty is a basic cost to the business that directly affects the bottom line, and a substantial amount is over-paid each year by importers in the EU. In addition to this a new regime of civil penalties affects both importers and exporters alike and may be levied by Customs for any breach of the complex legislation.

The VAT Consultancy has Customs Duty Specialists who can assist with any issue related to customs duty and international trade.

Customs assessments and disputes

A significant number of assessments issued by the customs authorities are overturned at departmental review stage. This is the first point at which a demand may be queried, and it takes place prior to taking a case all the way to a tribunal. The reasons for having a demand withdrawn may be due to, for example

• A difference in interpretation of customs legislation,
• Insufficient appreciation of the full facts of a case, or
• A lack of time and resources on the part of the customs authorities to obtain the full facts and figures in a particular situation
  

It is always possible to request a departmental review of any assessment issued by Customs when it is felt that there good reasons for disagreeing with their case. We are experienced in working to resolve disputes between Customs and the importer, and in many instances this has resulted in a significant reduction in the amount of duty payable.

It may be possible to resolve a potential assessment or dispute prior to the issue of an assessment. To this end we are able to liaise with Customs on your behalf, following an audit, post-importation check or issues arising at the point of importation.

Savings and Duty planning

Any importer paying duty should take all possible steps to legitimately minimise the customs duty bill. In particular we will assist you to

• Avoid - using legitimate duty relief schemes, or
• Reduce - using duty planning techniques, or
• Postpone - through the use of duty deferment, customs warehousing, etc.

We do this by utilising various proven customs duty planning methodologies which have, in the past, saved companies many hundreds of thousands of pounds. In addition we can assist you in designing, developing and implementing an effective and efficient reporting and accounting system for duty purposes.

Where applicable we will work with you to maximise any historic duty refunds resulting from retrospective application of duty reliefs or declaration errors.

Compliance

It is essential to remember that Customs will always hold the importer/exporter responsible for any errors made on any declaration, including import entries (even if completed by an agent), export C88s, EUR1 certificates, duty relief returns, etc. For this reason it has always been essential for companies involved in any aspect of importing or exporting to be seen to have adequate processes and procedures in place to ensure full compliance with customs legislation.

Checks on imported goods may take place at the time of importation. However, many additional, in-depth, checks are undertaken at post-importation audits undertaken by experienced Customs Officers. Any errors discovered by Customs at these audits may lead to heavy financial penalties and, possibly more significantly for many companies, future delays at the point of importation. 

In addition to criminal penalties, which have always applied to almost any aspects of the import and export of goods, Customs now have the ability to impose civil penalties. These penalties may be levied by Customs for any failure by an importer or exporter to follow any aspect of procedural or legislative requirements concerning the movement of goods, regardless of whether it was an innocent mistake, as opposed to an error made with criminal intent.

Established importers

We will assist in ensuring that your customs accounting and reporting systems are able to cope with all the statutory demands put upon them whilst minimising the input required on a day to day basis. Our aim is to assist companies to

• Maximise any potential duty savings
• Make the most of all potential cash-flow benefits
• Operate streamlined administrative and reporting functions
• Ensure that they are fully compliant with legislative requirements

We can do this for you by

1. Working with you to design and develop systems which will efficiently deal with the legislative accounting and reporting functions for import and export purposes, including the control of any applicable duty reliefs 
   
2. Providing practical advice on duty related issues such as tariff classification, customs valuation, duty reliefs, completion of documentation, etc.
   
3. Providing health checks to ensure that you are working at the optimum level of customs control and maximising all potential savings opportunities
   
4. Training relevant members of your organisation, including those involved on the operational side, as well as purchasing and sales where necessary

New importers

The demands put upon a new importer from day one seem very daunting. The requirement for

• A TURN
• A deferment account
• The correct commodity code and duty rate for the goods
• An accurate value to be declared for customs purposes
• Use to be made of all available duty relief schemes and their administration
• Avoidance of penalties for non-compliance

We can help you set up your company systems from the start to ensure that you can slip easily into the role of "importer". Avoiding delays at the port to guarantee a seamless supply of goods to your new customers will be of paramount importance and a small amount of advance planning can ensure that your new company delivers great customer service.