Apply to claim a repayment or remission of import duty on ‘at risk’ goods brought into Northern Ireland

Last updated 11 August 2023

You may be able to apply for a repayment or remission of EU import duty paid on goods brought into Northern Ireland, through the Duty Reimbursement Scheme.

If you’ve moved ‘at risk’ goods into Northern Ireland, you may be able to claim for repayment of import duty paid, or remission of import duty deferred.

You will be eligible to claim for single or multiple movements if you both:

• paid or deferred EU import duty on goods you brought into Northern Ireland
• have evidence that your goods have met the conditions to qualify for a repayment or remission, detailed in the ‘Before you claim’ section of this guidance

If you’re not resident or established in the UK, you must get an agent or representative established in the UK to submit the claim on your behalf.

You can submit a claim for a portion of the import duty paid or deferred on a consignment of ‘at risk’ goods. For example, if you move a consignment of 100 ‘at risk’ goods into Northern Ireland and 50 of those goods subsequently meet the conditions detailed in this guidance, you can claim for the duty charged on those 50 goods.

The Duty Reimbursement Scheme will also be available for EU duty charged when goods move under the new arrangements that will become operational under the Windsor Framework in autumn 2024.

When you can claim

You can make a claim for EU duty paid or deferred on goods brought into Northern Ireland from 1 January 2021 onwards.

You will need to claim:

• by 30 June 2026, if you’ve paid duty between 1 January 2021 and 30 June 2023
• within 3 years following notification of the duty, if you were notified after 30 June 2023

What you can claim

For duty paid or deferred on:

• movements of goods from Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) to Northern Ireland, you can claim for the full amount
• imports to Northern Ireland from a country outside of the UK or EU, if the EU duty was greater than the UK duty at the time of import, you can claim for the difference between the 2 rates

Who can claim

You can make a claim if you’re:

• the importer for the original ‘at risk’ movement into Northern Ireland
• an agent or representative acting on behalf of the importer

You must be authorised by the importer if you’re making a claim on their behalf.

Before you claim

You must provide sufficient evidence to show that the goods you’re claiming for meet one of the following conditions, as long as those goods have not first been moved into the EU.

1. Physical retail sale or goods intended to be sold by physical retail sale in Northern Ireland.
2. Onward movement from Northern Ireland to Great Britain.
3. Export from Northern Ireland to a location outside of the UK or the EU.
4. Final consumption in Northern Ireland.
5. Permanent installation in Northern Ireland.
6. Destruction in Northern Ireland.

The following sections provide further detail on these conditions, including examples of evidence you can provide to support your claim. These are illustrative rather than exhaustive. The merits of each claim will depend on the facts of the case and the evidence presented. Claims will be rejected if you do not provide sufficient evidence to show that they meet the conditions.

Goods for retail sale in Northern Ireland

You can claim for goods which you have sold or will sell to a consumer in Northern Ireland, or for goods which you have sold to another business in Northern Ireland if you can prove that those goods will ultimately be sold to consumers in Northern Ireland.

If you’re selling goods directly to consumers in Northern Ireland, you need to provide evidence of the sale to the consumer, this could include:

• the sales invoice or sales receipt
• the contract for the sale
• inventory records
• VAT records
• evidence of customer orders and confirmation of final delivery in accordance with the order

If you’re selling the goods to another retailer or business in Northern Ireland, you should provide evidence of the sale to the other retailer or business and evidence that the goods will subsequently be sold in Northern Ireland. This could include:

• the sales invoice or sales receipt from the business purchasing the goods
• commercial documents, such as a VAT invoice (the location of the recipient must be included)
• inventory records
• a contract for the sale — a legally binding document which includes details of the exchange, terms of sale, clear product description and ensures the rights and obligations of both parties during the transaction

Read the section ‘Additional evidence that may be required if your goods are subject to EU trade defence measures’ to check if you need to provide additional evidence.

Goods moved from Northern Ireland to Great Britain

Your claim must include transport documentation (such as a road consignment note or a freight invoice) to demonstrate that you have transported goods from Northern Ireland to Great Britain.

You should support your claim with additional evidence, including:

• a sales invoice (location of the recipient must be included)
• commercial documents, such as a VAT invoice (the location of the recipient must be included)
• evidence of customer orders
• a packing list (the destination must be included)
• the manifest data
• the bill of lading
• the export declaration, if applicable

You should provide as much information as is necessary to show that the goods that have been moved to Great Britain, are the same goods for which you were charged duty on entry to Northern Ireland.

For example, if you moved a number of the same type of goods to Great Britain, you must be able to show that you’re claiming a repayment for the specific goods that you initially moved. This could include:

• model or serial numbers (or other numerical identifiers)
• conformity certificates
• technical specifications

Read the section ‘Additional evidence that may be required if your goods are subject to EU trade defence measures’ to check if you need to provide additional evidence.

Goods exported from Northern Ireland to a location outside of the UK or the EU

Your claim must include an export declaration and should include the movement reference number (MRN). Find out how to make a full export declaration.

You can support your claim with additional evidence, including:

• a sales invoice (location of the recipient must be included)
• commercial documents, such as a VAT invoice (the location of the recipient must be included)
• evidence of customer orders
• a packing list (the destination must be included)
• transport documents
• the manifest data
• the bill of lading

Read the section ‘Additional evidence that may be required if your goods are subject to EU trade defence measures’ to check if you need to provide additional evidence.

You should provide as much information as is necessary to show that the goods that have been exported to a location outside of the UK or the EU, are the same goods for which you were charged duty on entry to Northern Ireland.

For example, if you exported goods to a location outside of the UK or the EU, you must be able to show that you’re claiming a repayment for the specific goods that you initially imported. This could include:

• model or serial numbers (or other numerical identifiers)
• conformity certificates
• technical specifications

Goods finally consumed in Northern Ireland

Your claim must include commercial documents or records showing evidence of actual consumption.

You can support your claim with inventory records, demonstrating that goods have been used up. For example, an internal record showing that a substance has been entirely consumed could support a reimbursement claim in relation to duty paid on a movement of that substance.

Goods permanently installed in Northern Ireland

Your claim must include commercial documents or records showing evidence of permanent installation.

You can support your claim with additional evidence, including:

• inventory records
• commercial documents (such as certificates of conformity, model numbers, technical specifications)
• a packing list
• a sales invoice

Goods destroyed in Northern Ireland

Your claim must include official destruction certificates, such as records showing a vehicle has been scrapped.

You can support your claim with other evidence, for example commercial data on inventory held by your business on the treatment of the goods which can be cross referenced with your inventory accounting.

Where you may need additional evidence

Additional evidence that may be required if your goods have been processed

If your goods have been processed in Northern Ireland after duty was charged, you may need to provide additional evidence.

The evidence to support your claim where goods have undergone processing, should show that inputs into processing ultimately ended up meeting one of the repayment or remission conditions.

This may include evidence of the inputs, processing and outputs, such as:

• commercial records (for example, bills of materials, stock records or production records)
• invoices
• customs declarations

For example:

1. You imported electronic components into Northern Ireland and were charged EU duty.
2. The electronic components were then fitted into laptops.
3. The laptops were then exported to a country outside the EU or the UK.

In this example, you would need to provide evidence showing that the electronic components for which you were charged EU duty, are those which were fitted and exported as part of the laptops.

Additional evidence that may be required if your goods are subject to EU trade defence measures

If you want to claim repayment or remission on the basis that you’ve sold your goods to a business located in Great Britain or a country outside of the EU after 30 June 2023, but your goods are subject to EU trade defence measures, you will need to:

• notify the buyer
• provide evidence of this notification when you make your claim

If you’re providing a sales invoice as evidence to support your repayment or remission claim, you should include either of these statements on your invoice:

‘The products [insert customs code] covered by this invoice originating in [country of non-preferential origin] are subject themselves or incorporate goods subject to trade defence measures according to [insert relevant regulation imposing measures] upon their importation in the EU.’

‘The products [insert customs code] covered by this invoice, consigned from [country of original consignment to NI or GB], are subject themselves or incorporate goods subject to trade defence measures according to [insert relevant regulation imposing measures] upon their importation in the EU.’

Claims for multiple movements

You can make a ‘bulk’ claim to cover multiple movements of goods that were previously declared ‘at risk’ of entering the EU and meet the conditions detailed in this guidance.

If you submit a bulk claim, you’re allowed a maximum of 250 individual consignments in one claim. For all movements included in a bulk claim, you must claim based on the same repayment or remission condition, such as retail sale in Northern Ireland or destruction of goods in Northern Ireland.

You will need to hold the relevant evidence that relates to each individual movement of goods covered in a bulk claim.

For example, you may wish to make a bulk claim in the following scenario:

1. You made multiple movements of ‘at risk’ goods into Northern Ireland.
2. The goods were all destroyed in Northern Ireland.

Goods subject to an EU trade defence measure cannot be included in a bulk claim.

What you will need

To submit a claim for repayment or remission you will need:

• your contact and address details
• the movement reference number for single movements
• a lead movement reference number (this will be the movement with the highest value) for bulk movements
• a spreadsheet covering details of the additional movement reference numbers (for bulk claims) — you can download one of the templates in the form or submit your own
• your GB or XI EORI number
• a commercial record or commercial document for the imported goods
• a commercial invoice for the imported goods
• the amount of import duty that was paid to HMRC
• the amount of duty that should have been paid to us
• the bank account details
• the relevant evidence to support your claim

Claim online

You’ll need to sign in with your Government Gateway user ID and password (if you do not have a user ID, you can create one when you first try to sign in).

Claim now

You will get an email to confirm that HMRC has received the form. This email will contain a unique reference number.

You do not need to do anything further until we write to you regarding your claim.

After you’ve claimed

You’ll get a notification once your claim has been approved.

If your claim is approved, we:

• will send you a letter to let you know
• may ask you to provide additional evidence for some of the movements within your bulk claim
• will reimburse the duty either by bank transfer or current month amendment (CMA)