Waivers
Information on different waivers for procedures being used.
Different waivers are available depending on the procedures you will be using and where you will be importing (Northern Ireland or GB). This is up to 100% for transit, special procedures in GB and Northern Ireland, up to 100% for duty deferment in GB and up to 70% waiver for duty deferment in Northern Ireland.
If you are an Authorised Economic Operator for Customs (AEOC) and Authorised Economic Operator for Full (AEOF) you qualify for the maximum level of waiver for each procedure. You will not normally have to provide any further evidence to qualify for the maximum waivers if you have already been authorised as AEOC or AEOF.
If you want to apply for a full waiver reducing the amount your guarantor needs to provide for your potential debt to 0% you must include your AEO details on your authorisation application. You will not need to provide any additional documents.
If you do not have Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) certification you can still apply to reduce the amount your guarantor needs to provide to 50%, 30% or 0% of the potential debt covered by your customs comprehensive guarantee.
You can do this by uploading a completed CCG1F and supporting documents with your online guarantee application.
For at least the last 3 years (where possible), you’ll need to provide:
- financial statements
- forecasts
- management accounts
- loan agreements
- auditors’ reports
There are 100% waivers available when using duty deferment in GB. You must be established in the UK to be eligible for these. If you are a business established outside the UK, no waivers are available.
You can apply for a guarantee waiver in GB when you apply for a new duty deferment account (DDA). Or you can amend an existing GB duty deferment account and apply for a guarantee waiver.
There are 2 types of guarantee waiver approvals:
- approval for a guarantee waiver to defer certain duties and taxes up to £10,000 per month
- approval for a guarantee waiver to defer certain duties and taxes up to a specified amount over £10,000 per month
The duties and taxes that can be deferred using a duty deferment account are:
- customs duties
- import VAT
- excise duty VAT
- excise duties (including Tobacco Products Duty)
- levies imposed under the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU
- positive Monetary Compensatory Amounts under the Common Agricultural Policy
- anti-dumping or countervailing duties imposed by the UK and the EU
- interest charges on customs debts
You can apply for a waiver if you have:
- no serious or repeated infringements of customs or tax rules in the past 3 years
- no record of serious criminal convictions related to your business activities in the past 3 years
- held positive net assets (excluding goodwill) at the date of your application and for the past 3 years (or, if shorter, for the period you have been trading)
- positive net assets (excluding goodwill) greater than the value of the waiver you are applying for at the date of your application and at your most recent balance sheet date, to qualify for a guarantee waiver for an amount over £10,000
If you need to defer amounts above £10,000 per month but do not meet the requirements for a full guarantee waiver, you may still be eligible for a partial waiver of up to £10,000. You will be asked to provide a guarantee for the additional amount only.
If you want to amend your guarantee waiver amount you can by using the change or cancel a duty deferment account form online at GOV.UK. You’ll need a Government Gateway user ID and password to complete. If you do not have one, you can create one.
If you are granted a guarantee waiver and your circumstances change so that you no longer meet the conditions for the guarantee waiver, you must:
- tell HMRC about your change of circumstances without delay
- provide a guarantee for your duty deferment account or apply to close it
HMRC will regularly check the use of your duty deferment account to ensure that you do not exceed your deferral limit.
If you have AEOC or AEOF status, the level of guarantee your guarantor needs to provide for customs duty covered by your duty deferment account is reduced to 30% of the duty amount. This means you will get a guarantee waiver of 70%. AEOC or AEOF status is the only way to obtain any waiver for duty deferment in Northern Ireland.
You may be able to reduce the amount of guarantee you need to provide for duty deferment for VAT or excise duty by using SIVA or EPSS.
Information on applying for SIVA can be found at Notice SIVA1: Simplified Import VAT accounting. Note that if your business is registered for VAT in the UK, you can account for import VAT on your VAT return, more information can be found at check when you can account for import VAT on your VAT return, which may be better for your business.
Information on applying for EPSS can be found at Excise Payment Security System (EPSS): authorisation criteria.
You will not normally be required to provide a guarantee for special procedures in the GB. If HMRC tell you that you need to provide a guarantee, it must be for the full amount.
If you want to apply for a full waiver reducing the amount your guarantor needs to provide for your potential debt to 0% you must include your AEO details on your authorisation application. You will not need to provide any additional documents.
If you do not have AEO statue you can still apply to reduce the amount your guarantor needs to provide to 50%, 30%, or 0% of the potential debt covered by your customs comprehensive guarantee.
You can do this by uploading a completed CCG1F and supporting documents with your online guarantee application.
For at least the last 3 years (where possible), you’ll need to provide:
- financial statements
- forecasts
- management accounts
- loan agreements
- auditors’ reports