A customs declaration is the electronic statement made to HMRC when goods enter or leave the UK, giving the commodity code, customs procedure, value and origin, from which customs duty and import VAT are calculated. All UK declarations are now made through HMRC's Customs Declaration Service (CDS), which replaced the old CHIEF system. You need a GB EORI number to import into Great Britain, and most businesses use a customs agent or their transporter to make the declaration for them.
What an import declaration contains
A full import declaration must include the customs procedure code, the commodity code and a declaration unique consignment reference, which links all the declarations for a consignment. It also gives:
- Parties. The consignor and consignee, identified by EORI number;
- Goods. The type, amount and packaging, and their commodity code, which sets the duty rate and whether a licence is needed;
- Valuation. The customs value, the currency and the valuation method;
- Transport. The departure point, destination, transport method and costs;
- Documents. Any certificates and licences, such as proof of origin to claim a preferential rate under a trade agreement.
Our guide to HS codes explains how to classify goods, and tariffs explains how the duty is calculated.
The Customs Declaration Service
HMRC announced in 2021 that import declarations would close on CHIEF on 30 September 2022 and that CDS would replace it as the UK's single customs platform. To use CDS a business subscribes with its EORI number (GB, or XI for Northern Ireland), Unique Taxpayer Reference and business address. Access is normally given within 2 hours, or up to 5 working days if HMRC needs to make checks.
Subscribing does not mean you submit declarations yourself. You do need it to get your postponed import VAT statements and import VAT certificates (C79) for your VAT Return, and to pay duty or set up a duty deferment account. Declarations themselves are submitted using specialist software that communicates with HMRC's systems.
Who makes the declaration
You can make declarations yourself, or hire a freight forwarder, a customs agent or broker, or an express operator. Whoever you hire must be established in the UK for customs and cannot act without your written instructions, which must say whether they act for you directly or indirectly. The choice decides who is liable for the customs debt:
| Type of representation | Who is liable for the duty |
|---|---|
| Direct representative | The importer alone, unless the importer gave clear instructions and the agent made a deliberate or unreasonable error, when the agent becomes jointly and severally liable |
| Indirect representative | The importer and the agent jointly and severally; HMRC can pursue either |
HMRC is clear that you remain responsible for due diligence on your declarations even when an agent makes them. For a client not established in the UK, indirect representation must be used for simplified declarations.
Timing and simplified declarations
Where the goods go into temporary storage, the full import declaration must be made within 90 days of the goods being presented to customs. A declaration can be lodged up to 30 days before arrival, though it is only formally accepted once the goods arrive. At ports using the Goods Vehicle Movement Service, the declaration must be made before the goods board. Duty must be paid, or deferred, before the goods are released.
Regular importers can apply for authorisation to use simplified declarations:
- Simplified frontier declaration. A reduced dataset at the border to get the goods released;
- Entry in the declarant's records. The goods are declared by entering them in the importer's own records, which creates the tax point;
- Supplementary declaration. The full data, which must be sent and accepted by the 10th calendar day of the following month;
- Final supplementary declaration. Due by the 11th calendar day of the month after the reporting period, even if there is nothing to report.
To be authorised, a business must be established in the UK, have a good customs compliance record over the last 3 years, hold a duty deferment account and keep records of all declarations for 4 years.
Worked example: what the declaration triggers
A VAT-registered UK retailer imports goods into Great Britain with a customs value of £20,000 and an illustrative duty rate of 4%.
- Customs duty. £20,000 × 4% = £800, payable before release or through a duty deferment account;
- Import VAT. The value for VAT includes the duty (and any onward transport to the first UK destination, ignored here): (£20,000 + £800) × 20% = £4,160;
- With postponed VAT accounting. The retailer pays no import VAT at the border, declaring the £4,160 as output tax and reclaiming it as input tax on the same VAT Return. No approval is needed. Our guide to postponed VAT accounting explains the entries.
The duty is a real cost; the VAT is cash-neutral only where it is fully recoverable. An error in the commodity code changes the £800, which is why classification deserves more care than it usually gets.
Costs, Northern Ireland and coming changes
HMRC does not set the price of declarations: agents' and software providers' fees are commercial. When comparing quotes, separate the declaration fee from disbursements such as duty and VAT paid on your behalf, and check whether the agent acts as a direct or indirect representative.
Northern Ireland follows different rules under the Windsor Framework. Businesses moving goods from Great Britain into Northern Ireland can join the UK Internal Market Scheme and move goods "not at risk" of entering the EU using a simplified dataset instead of a full declaration. The free Trader Support Service helps with movements into Northern Ireland.
The government published draft legislation in July 2026 to remove the £135 customs duty relief for low value imports and introduce new customs arrangements for these goods. It will take effect on a day set by regulations, by October 2028 at the latest, and Budget 2026 confirmed that timetable. Until then, the current rules apply.
Primary sources: GOV.UK on importing goods, full import declarations, subscribing to CDS, the CHIEF closure, using an agent, customs debt liability, simplified declarations, supplementary and final supplementary declarations, postponed VAT accounting, VATA 1994 s21, the UK Internal Market Scheme and low value imports.
Our international VAT advisers can review how your imports are declared and how the VAT is recovered, and our VAT health check picks up errors before HMRC does.