What are your customs compliance risks?
If you import from outside of the EU you must complying with the customs regulations and pay the correct amount of customs duty at the correct time.
The customs authorities exercise audit-based control, which means they can review any transactions made in the last three years. Your errors can result in:
- Penalties of up to £2,500 per innocent mistake
- Duty demands for any underpaid duties
- Delays in your customs clearance
- A poor compliance record impacting on your ability to obtain specific approvals and simplifications going forward
Although you can delegate the task of making customs declarations to an agent you cannot delegate legal responsibility for the accuracy of these declarations or your import VAT or customs costs.
You need to understand your obligations and how to establish the elements that set your customs duty costs. Good customs planning takes you beyond these basics to implementing streamlined and affective procedures for managing and controlling this risk. A by-product of this process is the ability to identify cost savings and potential reclaims.