Areas of Assistance For Importers
In relation to businesses which import, there are a number of areas of where we can help.
Customs Duty and Import VAT – Non-EU Imports
If a business is importing goods from non EU contries there are 3 broad areas of compliance and opportunity:
- Facilitation Schemes
- Commodity Codes of Goods Imported
- Valuation of Imports
Facilitation Schemes
There are a number of schemes available that provide both cash flow as well as actual duty and import VAT savings. Contact us for further details of these schemes.
Valuation & Commodity Codes
It is very important that importers act in a proactive manner since they are the responsible party for the information declared.
To that end it is imperative that the importer is actively involved in both determining and advising the correct values and commodity code descriptions (these determine duty rates) to ensure that neither underpayments nor overpayments of duty and import VAT occur since both kinds of error can significantly affect profitability in a negative way.
In addition, HM Customs & Excise have recently introduced (potentially) stringent Civil Penalties in respect of import declarations so compliance now has an added dimension to it.
As a result The VAT People can provide proactive advice in determining the correct values for duty and VAT purposes (the rules being complex in some instances) as well as assisting in the establishment of the most appropriate and beneficial commodity codes.
EU Imports
In addition to non-EU imports there are particular VAT and Statistical Reporting (Intrastat) rules that mean that all intra-EU transactions need to be considered in a proactive manner.
There are a number of Compliance Issues that you need to be aware of – they can also provide opportunities for pro-active planning.
We will be pleased to discuss any issue regarding Customs Duty, Excise Duty or VAT (Import or Generally) on an initial free, no obligation basis.
