Moving personal belongings to the UK

You might need to pay tax and customs duty when you move your personal belongings to the UK from abroad.

You must follow the rules on:

• arriving with goods
• arriving with cash
• food, plants and animals
• importing vehicles
• sailing a boat to the UK

You must pay Excise Duty if you ship alcohol or tobacco.

If you break the rules customs can seize your goods and the vehicle you moved them in. You can also be fined or prosecuted.

Claim relief

You might be able to claim ‘transfer of residence’ (ToR) relief on tax and duty when you move personal belongings from:

• outside the UK to Great Britain
• outside the European Union (EU) to Northern Ireland

If you’re moving from the EU to Northern Ireland, you do not usually pay tax or duty on personal belongings.

Find out if you can claim relief.

How to claim relief

Fill in form ToR01 before you move.

If you do not qualify for relief

You need to pay any tax or duty you owe. You must pay it before you can collect your belongings.

You can be charged:

• Customs Duty - rates depend on the type of goods and where they came from (call the helpline for rates)
• VAT at standard rates on the total value of goods plus shipping, insurance and any duty you owe