Importing goods from the EU

Movements of goods from the EU to the UK become imports at the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020. If you have not imported goods into the UK before, here are the essential things that you need to know:

• When goods enter the UK, an import for tax purposes will take place. This means customs compliance obligations arise.
• If the goods are ordinarily subject to VAT in the UK then import VAT will be payable at the same rate.
• If the goods are subject to customs duty, then this will also be payable. This is based on the products commodity code which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff.

As customs declarations will now be required, you could obtain the relevant software and training to submit these declarations or use a freight forwarder to complete these on your behalf.