Amend or cancel a Customs Declaration Service import declaration
When you can amend or cancel your declaration depends on if you have received a final tax calculation message or if the declaration has been cleared.
Amending a declaration
You can use your Customs Declaration Service software to submit amendments to import declarations.
Amendments can be made up until you receive a final tax calculation message from the Customs Declaration Service, unless:
- a claim to quota is being made, meaning the tax calculation at the end of the dwell time is provisional
- your account does not have enough balance to cover the customs debt (an alert will be issued to resolve this)
If you cannot amend your declaration, you can cancel and resubmit it if the declaration has not been cleared.
If you submit an amendment to an existing declaration, and you get an error message, you can either submit a:
- nil amendment (an amendment with no changes)
- new amendment to correct the error
The declaration will be paused until the error is corrected.
The message and notifications you receive after making a successful amendment depends on the type of declaration and the software you are using.
Using your software
You can contact your software supplier:
- for more information on how to make an amendment
- to check if you can find out the status of your declaration through the Customs Declaration Service, Declaration Information Service
You cannot amend your declaration using Customs Declarations Service software once it has been cleared.
Cancelling a declaration
This is known as ‘invalidation’ and ‘withdrawal’.
You can make an invalidation request up until the declaration is cleared. If the declaration has not yet arrived, you will need to request invalidation.
If the declaration has arrived and is under control, the customs authority (HMRC, UK Border Force or Trading Standards) will decide if the invalidation request should be accepted.
When the control is finalised and you receive a final provisional tax or insufficient balance message, the invalidation request will be automatically accepted.
If you submit an amendment to an existing declaration, and you get an error message, it cannot be invalidated until the error has been resolved.
Post clearance
Once cleared, you cannot amend or cancel your customs declaration in the Customs Declaration Service. You must instead notify HMRC of your intention to amend or cancel your declaration. All requests will be reviewed by HMRC. You have up to 3 years to amend and 90 days to cancel your declaration.
There are different ways to notify HMRC depending on the type of amendment or cancellation after clearance.
Amendments and cancellations that result in an underpayment or overpayment
You must notify HMRC using either a:
- voluntary clearance amendment (underpayment) (C2001)
- repayment of import duty and VAT if you’ve overpaid (C285)
Other amendments
For bulk importer EORI amendment notifications, send an email to belfast.pcateam@hmrc.gov.uk, add ‘Bulk amendment enquiry’ in the email subject field. You will then receive a response with the details that you will need to provide.
A bulk amendment is a high volume of declarations requesting amendment from one single importer EORI number to another single EORI number.
For all other amendment notifications, you must send an email to belfast.pcateam@hmrc.gov.uk providing:
- a signed letter or email (the signature on the email will be acceptable)
- Movement Reference Number (MRN) or entry number
- details of the amendment you need to make
You must additionally provide:
- an invoice for VAT and EORI number amendments
- HMRC supervising office approval for declarations subject to controls
You may also wish to provide:
- an invoice
- an airway bill
- a preference certificate
Details that cannot be amended
You cannot send a notification of an amendment for the following:
- DE 2/1 Simplified Declaration — Previous Documents
- DE 2/4 Reference Number
- DE 4/1 Delivery Terms
- DE 4/13 Valuation Indicator
- DE 4/16 Valuation Method
You should instead keep a record of any changes.
Updates to this page
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Post clearance section added to include guidance for cancelling or amending a decleration after clearance.
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Guidance for cancelling a declaration after clearance has been updated.
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First published.