Notice

Certified traders and tax representatives — EU trade in duty paid excise goods (Excise Notice 204b)

Updated 19 August 2024

1. Introduction

1.1 About this notice

This notice sets out the UK’s requirements for the commercial movement of excise goods between Northern Ireland and the EU which are released for consumption in the UK or an EU member state. Such goods are referred to throughout this notice as duty-paid goods and are normally available for purchase from cash and carries, supermarkets and wholesalers in the country of dispatch.

This notice provides information on the certified consignee and certified consignor schemes, including their temporary versions. These replaced the previous commercial importer schemes from 13 February 2023.

Sections 12 and 13 cover the requirements for distance selling and UK tax representatives.

It contains:

• general conditions and requirements
• application procedures
• duty payment procedures

It also sets out your rights and obligations as an importer or exporter of duty-paid goods.

1.2 What’s changed

This notice has been amended to remove references to the commercial importers scheme which was replaced by the certified trader schemes on 13 February 2023. It has also been updated to provide more details of how goods need to be moved in line with these changes to the duty-paid process, including the use of the Excise Movement and Control System (EMCS).

EMCS is an electronic system that records and validates movements of duty-suspended excise goods. From 13 February 2023 it was extended to also capture movements of duty-paid goods between Northern Ireland and the EU. Due to ongoing system upgrades, EMCS was not available for duty-paid movements from that date and certified traders followed the fallback procedures. However, from 19 August 2024 all duty-paid movements between Northern Ireland and the EU must follow the EMCS process set out in this notice.

1.3 Who should read this notice

You must read this notice if you want to move excise goods for commercial purposes between Northern Ireland and EU member states, which have already been duty-paid in the country of dispatch.

This includes traders in EU countries who are selling such goods remotely to private individuals in Northern Ireland (for example using the internet or mail order), and anyone wanting to act as a tax representative on behalf of such traders.

The fact that duty has been paid on the goods in an EU member state does not affect the requirement to secure the UK duty on commercial supplies of those goods, before they’re dispatched to Northern Ireland.

1.4 Other notices to read

You’ll need to read:

• about how to use your duty deferment account
• Excise Notice 206: revenue traders’ records
• Excise duty drawback (Excise Notice 207)
• Excise Notice 476: Tobacco Products Duty
• UK Duty Stamps Scheme (Excise Notice DS5)
• Excise Notice 2002: Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme

1.5 If you want a copy of any forms or notices

If you want copies of the forms and notices mentioned in this notice, follow the relevant links.

1.6 Contacting HMRC

Unless you are told otherwise, either in this notice or in writing, your first point of contact is the excise enquiries helpline. Details of other teams that you may need to contact are in section 17 of this notice.

1.7 Response times

HMRC will respond in line with its charter standards.

2. Legal background

2.1 The law

You’ll find the primary legal provisions applicable to the contents of this notice in:

• The Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 (CEMA)
• The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (ROA)
• Finance Act 1994 (FA94)

You’ll find detailed requirements in:

• The Revenue Traders (Accounts and Records) Regulations 1992 (SI 1992 No. 3150) (RTAR)
• The Excise Duties (Deferred Payment) Regulations 1992 (SI 1992 No. 3152) (EDDPR)
• The Duty Stamps Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/202) (DSR)
• The Excise Goods (Holding, Movement and Duty Point) Regulations 2010 (HMDP)
• The Excise Goods (Holding, Movement and Duty Point) Regulations 2010 that applies in Northern Ireland (NI HMDP)

This UK law enacts the requirements placed by:

EU Council Directive 2020/262 OJ L 58, 27.2.2020.

2.2 How the law is referred to in this notice

When this notice refers directly to the law, the standard abbreviations as shown in paragraph 2.1 will be used.

2.3 If you fail to meet your legal obligations

If you do not meet your legal obligations, HMRC may impose civil penalties for breaches of the regulations and the conditions set out in this notice. For more serious offences we may revoke any approval we may have granted you, or even prosecute you.

If you move excise goods or arrange for their movement, without following the rules and requirements set out in this notice, or first paying (or securing payment of) duty in the country of destination, the goods and vehicle will be liable to forfeiture. You may also be liable to a civil penalty or prosecution.

For information on how to appeal against any decision we make, read section 16.

3. Overview of the schemes

3.1 Excise goods covered

The schemes apply to:

• alcohol and alcoholic drinks
• manufactured tobacco (cigarettes, cigars, hand-rolling tobacco, other smoking tobacco and tobacco for heating)
• energy products, for example mineral oils (also known as hydrocarbon oils)

Where these goods are duty-paid in the country of dispatch.

3.2 Do all duty-paid movements follow the same process

The information given in this notice relates to the two types of schemes used to move duty-paid goods between Northern Ireland and the EU. These schemes are the certified consignee and certified consignor, including their temporary versions. The schemes have been in operation since 13 February 2023.

The previous commercial importer schemes (registered and unregistered) ceased on 12 February 2023.

Additionally, if you want to sell duty-paid goods from an EU member state to private individuals in Northern Ireland (known as distance selling), for example using the internet, you must appoint a Northern Ireland tax representative to account for the UK excise duty. For further information on distance selling and tax representatives, read sections 12 and 13.

3.3 How the certified trader schemes work

General information

From 13 February 2023, the process for moving excise duty-paid goods between EU member states changed from a paper-based system (under the cover of a Simplified Administrative Accompanying Document (SAAD) to an electronic based system using the Excise Movement and Control System (EMCS) (under the cover of an electronic Simplified Administrative Document (eSAD).

This process also applies to duty-paid goods moving between Northern Ireland and the EU.

If you receive duty-paid goods from an EU member state into Northern Ireland, you must be approved by HMRC as a certified consignee or a temporary certified consignee.

If you dispatch duty-paid goods from Northern Ireland to an EU member state, you must be approved as a certified consignor or a temporary certified consignor.

All duty-paid movements between Northern Ireland and EU can only be made from a certified consignor to a certified consignee, including their temporary versions.

The process for distance selling, set out in section 12 of this notice, was not affected by these changes.

Certified consignees

For those wanting to receive duty-paid goods from the EU, you can choose between a certified consignee or a temporary certified consignee approval.

Certified consignees receive a single continuous approval which allows them to request goods from an EU certified consignor at any time, without need for further authorisation from HMRC.

Under this scheme, you can arrange delivery and move the goods under EMCS without having to submit a prior notification to HMRC. You must account for the UK excise duty on the goods you receive using deferment arrangements. This requires you to have (or have permission to use) a suitable deferment account and to submit monthly returns.

For more information on this process read section 10.

Temporary certified consignees do not need to have a deferment account or submit monthly returns. Instead, they must secure the UK excise duty on a consignment-by-consignment basis.

To do this, they must submit details of each individual consignment to HMRC by completing a HM4a Paid Temporary Consignment request form (HM4a). This must be done before the goods are dispatched and must be accompanied by payment of the UK excise duty on those goods. The HM4a form is available upon request from the duty-paid movements team. Goods must only be dispatched once the HM4a form has been returned to you, endorsed with the unique excise ID for that movement, known as a Paid Temporary Consignment (PTC).

Certified consignors

For businesses wishing to dispatch duty-paid goods from Northern Ireland to EU certified consignees, there is no requirement to account for UK excise duty as the goods you are dispatching are already UK duty-paid.

You can choose to apply either for continuous approval to dispatch goods as a certified consignor or to request an authorisation from HMRC for individual movements before they are dispatched as a temporary certified consignor.

If you are a certified consignee and wish to return goods to the EU certified consignor, after you have already receipted the movement, you will also require an approval as a certified consignor, to do so.

If you do not wish to apply for an approval yourself, you may be able to find a business who is approved as the relevant Northern Ireland certified trader type to move the goods on your behalf. HMRC does not provide a list of these businesses.

These schemes are designed for use by commercial businesses. However, should a private individual need to send or receive duty-paid goods between Northern Ireland and the EU for a commercial purpose, for example a one-off sale of wine from a personal wine cellar, then they must also use these schemes. Private individuals can only be granted an approval as a temporary certified trader.

To apply for the necessary approval, you must complete form HM3. For further information on the approvals process, including how long it can take to receive a decision, read section 8.

Once you have been approved or, in the case of temporary approvals, once we authorise your individual movement, you will be given an excise ID. This will be recorded on the System for the Exchange of Excise Data (SEED), which is an EU wide register of all approved excise traders.

This will allow your EU supplier, or customer, to verify that you hold the appropriate approval to send or receive duty-paid excise goods.

Main differences between continuous and temporary certified trader approvals

Both types require you to obtain approval but then allow you to either send or receive duty-paid excise goods. However, there are differences in how movements are authorised and UK excise duty is accounted for — you will need to consider which one works best for your business.

You may also find that you need an approval as both a certified consignor and certified consignee. For example, if you usually receive duty-paid goods from the EU but for some reason you need to return these goods to your original supplier, you may also require a certified consignor approval to do this.

Equally, if you usually supply goods to the EU, you may need to hold an approval as a certified consignee in order for your customers to return any goods to you.

3.4 Registering to receive or send goods which have been duty-paid in the UK or an EU member state

If you wish to move duty-paid goods between Northern Ireland and EU member states, you must be authorised as a certified consignee or certified consignor, depending on whether you are importing into or exporting goods from Northern Ireland. Details on how to gain authorisation are provided in section 8 of this notice.

In addition, if you want to account for the duty on EU goods that are dispatched to a private individual in the UK (known as distance selling) then you must be authorised as a tax representative. See section 13 for further information.

3.5 Receiving excise goods from suppliers based in non-EU countries

You cannot use these schemes to send or receive goods to and from suppliers based in non-EU countries. These schemes can only be used to move excise duty-paid goods between Northern Ireland and EU member states.

3.6 Combining a purchasing trip with a holiday

You can do this, but you must use one of the schemes for importing commercial duty-paid goods into the UK, as detailed in this notice. You must apply for approval using form HM3 and secure the UK duty before you leave the UK.

3.7 Using the UK duty-paid scheme if you’re based in an EU member state

You can use the UK duty-paid schemes, as long as you follow all the procedures set out in this notice and comply with any conditions in force in your own member state. If you are based in an EU member state and meet the requirements set out in this notice, we can only grant you a temporary certified trader approval.

However, if the goods being imported are being delivered to a private individual in Northern Ireland, you must appoint a UK tax representative to account for the UK duty on your behalf. See sections 12 and 13.

For distance sales on behalf of vendors in EU member states, a tax representative must submit details of each individual consignment to HMRC by completing a ‘Tax Representative request to import duty-paid excise goods bought in an EU Member State’ (HM4b) form.

3.8 If you want to receive goods you’ve purchased from an EU supplier for personal use

This form of transaction is known as ‘distance selling’ and the arrangements set out at section 12 must be followed.

If you wish to receive excise goods in this manner, the person who sells you the goods is responsible for ensuring that the UK duty is paid before the goods are dispatched to you.

3.9 Bringing excise goods in from an EU country for commercial purposes

If you want to import duty-paid goods, then you must follow one of the schemes set out in this notice. Which one you need to use will depend on whether you wish to pay the duty by deferment or pay upfront and receive a temporary approval for one movement at the time.

If you want to import excise goods in duty-suspension, you may choose to:

• apply for approval as a registered consignee and comply with the procedures described in Excise Notice 203a: Registered Consignees
• use the services of a registered consignee acting on your behalf
• apply for approval as a temporary registered consignee and comply with the procedures described in Excise Notice 204A: Temporary Registered Consignees, or
• use the services of an authorised warehousekeeper who receives goods on your behalf into an ‘excise warehouse’ (if you are the owner of goods held in duty-suspension, in an excise warehouse, you must be registered under the Warehousekeepers and Owners of Warehoused Goods Regulations 1999) — for more details see Excise Notice 196: excise goods — registration and approval of warehousekeepers, warehouse premises, owners of goods and registered consignors

3.10 Marking requirements for excise goods

Subject to certain exceptions, spirits and wine, or other fermented products (previously known as made-wine) in bottle sizes of 35cl or more with an alcoholic strength of 30% or more which are intended for retail sale in the UK must bear a duty stamp.

You can find more information about duty stamps in section 14 of this notice and in Excise Notice DS5: UK Duty Stamps Scheme.

Also, there are fiscal marking and health warning requirements that you must be aware of and follow if you intend to import tobacco products such as cigarettes or hand-rolling tobacco.

You can find more information about fiscal marking in Excise Notice 476: Tobacco Products Duty.

4. Before you can send or receive goods under the Certified trader schemes

4.1 Notifying HMRC of a consignment

Whether you intend to send or receive duty-paid goods between Northern Ireland and the EU, you must first be approved by HMRC as either a certified consignor or certified consignee, respectively. You must apply for this approval by completing form HM3. See section 9 of this notice for more details on the registration and approval process.

If you send goods as a certified consignor, there is no requirement to notify HMRC of a consignment prior to dispatching the goods to a certified consignee in an EU country but you must follow the processes for moving the goods set out in this notice. Once you have completed form HM3 and are approved by HMRC, you can provide the excise ID allocated to you as a certified consignor to your customers so that they can verify your approval on SEED.

If you are approved as a certified consignee, again there is no requirement to notify HMRC of a consignment prior to dispatch of the goods.

If you are approved as a temporary certified consignee, you will be allocated a HMRC reference which only confirms your approval and it cannot be used to receive goods. This means that you will also need to provide HMRC’s duty-paid movements team with advance notification for each consignment you wish to receive by submitting a form HM4a (Paid Temporary Consignment request form) along with payment of UK excise duty payable on those goods. Once your HM4a has been processed and approved, HMRC will send you a unique PTC reference for that consignment. This will allow your goods to be dispatched to you.

If you receive goods as a temporary certified consignee, you should set aside enough time to:

• request a form HM4a from HMRC.

• allow HMRC to receive and process your completed form HM4a (including postal delays if not submitted by e-mail)

• allow your payment to clear - HMRC must receive payment before a movement is authorised
• provide your supplier with the PTC reference so that they can verify your approval on SEED before dispatching the goods under EMCS
• submit a report of receipt on EMCS once the goods have arrived at your delivery address to close the movement
• on completion of the movement, make sure that the duty and VAT due is paid in full

As long as we receive accurate and complete details from you, we aim to process your form HM4a within 10 working days.

In a similar way, if you are approved as a temporary certified consignor, you will be allocated a HMRC reference but this only confirms your approval and it cannot be used to dispatch goods. This means that you will also need to provide HMRC with advance notification for each consignment you wish to dispatch. This is done by completing a ‘Paid Temporary Authorisation (PTA) request form’, which is available upon request from HMRC. Further information on how to do this can be found in section 4.8.

4.2 Information you must provide to HMRC as a temporary certified consignee

Before HMRC returns your form HM4a, endorsed with the unique PTC reference for that consignment, we will check that you’ve given us all the required information regarding trading details and information about the consignment.

This will include:

• your name, address, business phone number and temporary certified consignee registration number
• details of your supplier, including their certified consignor excise ID
• the Northern Ireland delivery address
• details of the consignment you want to import (for example, brand and quantities)
• details of the transporter you’ll use (including vehicle registration details), and
• details of any excise goods on which duty stamps should be affixed (see section 14)

If you cannot provide these details, we may not be able to process your form.

However, we accept that you may not know the details of the transporter or the vehicle registration number at the time of completion of the HM4a. You should update the duty-paid movements team with these details as soon as possible and certainly before the certified consignor has dispatched the goods to Northern Ireland. If your supplier is a Temporary Certified Consignor, we also accept that you will not be able to provide their excise ID straight away, as your supplier can only get this once you have provided them with your PTC. You must notify the duty-paid movements team of your supplier’s excise ID as soon as your supplier provides it to you and certainly before the goods are dispatched.

4.3 How to complete form HM4a

There are notes within each section of the form to help you with the completion.

If you are still in doubt after reading the notes, you should contact the duty-paid movements team for assistance. See section 17 of this Notice for contact details.

Once completed, this form should be returned to the duty-paid movements team by e-mail to the address provided on the form.

4.4 The PTC 4.4 The PTC reference for a temporary certified consignee

A PTC is the authorisation number for a particular movement as a temporary certified consignee. It’s the PTC number that your supplier should use as your excise ID on the electronic simplified administrative document (eSAD), not your temporary certified consignee registration number. It’s specific to a single consignment, and can only be used by the supplier, and for the type and quantity of goods, stated on the original HM4a form. The period of time that a PTC is valid is also limited, based on the dates of dispatch and arrival that you provide on your HM4a form.

4.5 Tell us about any changes

You need to immediately notify the duty-paid movements team of any changes to the details provided in the original form HM4a as soon as you’re aware of them, and at least 48 hours before the intended date of dispatch. This is because the new information needs to be sent to the supplier’s EU member state before your supplier can raise an eSAD for the movement.

Failure to notify these changes may render the goods liable to forfeiture and you liable to a civil penalty.

4.6 How to work out the duty

There is information on how to calculate the duty for excise goods in Section 18. Refer to this and to section 7 ‘Calculation of the duty’.

4.7 When to pay the duty payable on the consignment

If you are approved as a certified consignee, you must use a deferment account to secure the duty.

If you are approved as a temporary certified consignee, you must secure the total duty due on each consignment at the time of submitting your completed form HM4a to the duty-paid movements team for authorisation.

This amount becomes an actual duty payment once you’ve received the goods and submitted a report of receipt on EMCS. Should the amount of duty payable subsequently change, for example, due to excesses or shortages, either a further payment may be required or, if you can show that you’ve overpaid excise duty, you’ll be entitled to a refund of that overpayment.

For further information see section 9.

4.8 Information you must provide to HMRC as a temporary certified consignor

If you are approved as a temporary certified consignor, you will be allocated a registration number which only confirms your approval and cannot be used to dispatch duty-paid goods. Before you can dispatch goods to your customers, HMRC must authorise all individual consignments. You must apply for this authorisation by completing a ‘Paid Temporary Authorisation request’ form (PTA request form) which HMRC will send to you after the HM3 form has been processed and if your approval is granted. This form must be used by temporary certified consignors to request authorisations for single consignments and must be sent to the Excise Processing Team (EPT). You can also request additional PTA request forms from EPT for any subsequent movements. See section 17 of this Notice for contact details. Before HMRC returns your ‘PTA approval request’ form, endorsed with a unique paid temporary authorisation (PTA) reference for that consignment, we will check that you’ve given us all the required information regarding trading details and information about the consignment.

This will include:

• your name, address, business phone number and temporary certified consignor registration number
• details of your customer, including their certified consignee excise ID
• the EU delivery address for your customer
• details of the consignment you want to export (for example, brand and quantities), and
• details of the transporter you’ll use (including vehicle registration details)

If you cannot provide these details, we may not be able to process your form.

However, we accept that you may not know the details of the transporter or the vehicle registration number at the time of completion. You must make sure that you include these details on the eSAD you create on EMCS when dispatching the goods. See section 5 for more details about creating eSADs on EMCS.

4.9 The PTA reference for a temporary certified consignor

A PTA (paid temporary authorisation) is the authorisation number for a particular movement as a temporary certified consignor. It’s the PTA number that your customer needs to use to verify your approval as a temporary certified consignor on SEED and not your registration number, which is allocated following the processing of the HM3 form. The PTA is specific to a single consignment, can only be used once and for the type and quantity of goods notified to us. The period of time that a PTA is valid is also limited, based on the date of dispatch that you provide on your ‘PTA authorisation request’ form.

4.10 If we refuse to authorise a particular movement

HMRC reserves the right to refuse authorisation for a particular movement. However, we will normally agree to authorise your consignment where you have a valid temporary certified consignor or a temporary certified consignee approval. If you are a temporary certified consignor, you must also be approved to send that category of goods and in the case of temporary certified consignees, you must be approved to receive that category of goods and have pre-paid the duty. Any outstanding UK excise duty due on a previous consignment must be paid before we will authorise a new one.

4.11 Movement guarantee

Duty-paid excise goods moving from Northern Ireland to the EU, must be covered by financial security in the form of a movement guarantee.

This means that not only does the excise duty in the country of destination needs to be paid but a movement guarantee is also required.

This is needed to cover the potential risk of goods not arriving at their destination. If goods do not make it to their final destination, then it is generally the person who provided the movement guarantee that is liable to pay any excise duty that may become due in the country where the goods went missing.

Under EU law, the certified consignee is required to provide this guarantee, unless the EU member state of destination allows for other people connected to the movement to provide it.

In relation to goods arriving in Northern Ireland, we have chosen to expand the categories of people who can provide the movement guarantee for a specific movement so that it may be provided by one of the following:

• the certified consignee
• the certified consignor
• the owner of the goods
• the transporter for the movement

If you are dispatching goods to an EU certified consignee, you will simply need to make sure that there is a movement guarantee in place before you dispatch the goods. This movement guarantee must be provided by someone who is allowed to do so according to the rules in the EU member state of destination.

If you wish to provide the movement guarantee for such movements in your role as the certified consignor, you will need to make sure that the EU member state of destination allows you to do so.

For more information about how to apply for a movement guarantee and how the level of guarantee is calculated, see section 10 of Notice 197.

4.12 Methods of payment

HMRC’s preferred method of payment is by BACS. Please use the details below when making a payment.

• Account number : 12000903
• Sort code : 08 32 00
• Reference number (for the payment): NOICCAT/Company Name
• Swift Code: BARCGB22
• IBAN (for international payments): GB20BARC20051730 336491

Although we do accept other methods of payment, you should be aware that these are likely to result in a delay to receiving authorisation for your movement. For example, if you present a non-guaranteed cheque it can take up to 10 working days to clear and we are unable to fully process your HM4a form until it has cleared.

4.13 How to show you’ve secured the UK duty and are approved to receive the goods

If you are importing goods as a certified consignee, your EU supplier, as a certified consignor, will be able to verify your excise ID on SEED prior to dispatching the goods.

If you are importing goods as a temporary certified consignee and you’ve secured the UK duty, form HM4a will be returned to you, endorsed with a unique PTC reference for that consignment. You need to provide this PTC as your excise ID to your supplier in the EU member state of dispatch. They will be able to use this to verify your approval on SEED and then dispatch the goods via EMCS.

4.14 How to account for VAT

If you are registered for VAT, you should account for acquisition VAT on your VAT return for the period covering the date of acquisition of the goods. You’ll find more details about this in VAT on movements of goods between Northern Ireland and the EU.

If you are not registered for VAT, you must make arrangements to pay the VAT at the current rate on the total value of the goods, including the excise duty. You may use form HM4a to pay VAT, but you’ll not be able to calculate the actual VAT payable until you’ve obtained the goods.

4.15 If you want to take delivery of more than one consignment

If you are using the certified consignee scheme, you can arrange to receive multiple consignments providing the combined excise duty due doesn’t exceed the duty deferment guarantee limit.

If you are using the temporary certified consignee scheme, you’ll need to submit a separate form HM4a for each consignment and you can normally have only a single valid HM4a at any one time.

This means that HMRC will only authorise another HM4a for a second consignment once you have:

• notified us that the previous consignment has been received,
• submitted the report of receipt on EMCS or, where EMCS will not allow this, submitted a fully completed manual closure request form to the duty-paid movements team
• paid any outstanding duties or taxes.

If you wish to receive more frequent consignments, you may apply for multiple PTC authorisation, or you should consider applying to become a standard Certified Consignee.

You must submit a request for multiple PTC approval to the EPT. This request must include a business case explaining why you require the ability to receive multiple consignments at the same time. HMRC will only grant you multiple PTC approval if you can demonstrate a genuine business need for it. If you cannot provide a suitable business case to support your application, approval will be refused.

If it becomes apparent that you no longer require the ability to receive multiple consignments, then the approval may be withdrawn. In addition, if it becomes apparent that receiving multiple consignments is affecting your ability to keep accurate records of each consignment, or you fail to properly account for the duty, your approval may be withdrawn.

4.16 If goods are to be delivered to more than one address

If you are a temporary certified consignee, the goods must be delivered to your business premises, as shown on the HM4a and eSAD.

If you are approved as a certified consignee, you may arrange for the goods to be delivered to a business address which may be different from your business premises, however it must be the same as that on the eSAD.

4.17 If your intended supplier does not have the goods you need

If you are a certified consignee, you can search for an alternative supplier who will raise a new movement on EMCS and do not require a prior notification to HMRC.

If you are a temporary certified consignee and have already received your PTC, you will need to contact the duty-paid movements team. If you wish to source the same goods from a different supplier, we may be able to amend the certified consignor details if you tell us about the change at least 48 hours before the original date of dispatch. If sufficient notice is not given, we will not be able to notify the authorities in the supplier’s EU member state in time, so your PTC will need to be cancelled and it cannot be used. A new PTC can be created for your new supplier, however we may require a new HM4a form to be submitted and it may also delay the possible date of dispatch for those goods.

If you simply wish to cancel the transaction then, as long as the PTC has not already been used, the duty paid movements team will cancel the PTC and normally refund any money used to secure the duty for that movement. HMRC reserves the right to request further evidence demonstrating that the movement was cancelled before repaying any duty secured.

If you decide to change your supplier after the original movement has been discharged on EMCS, or arrange for another consignment with the same supplier, you will need to submit a new HM4a form for that movement.

4.18 Changing your mind over the quantity and/or type of goods you want to import

Whether you are a certified consignee or a temporary certified consignee, if you change your mind over the quantity of goods you wish to receive before the movement has started on EMCS, you need to agree with your supplier the revised quantity.

If you are a temporary certified consignee, any additional duty must be secured with us before the goods are dispatched, which may delay the movement. If you import more goods than you originally notified on your HM4a form and you fail to secure the UK duty on the extra goods with the duty-paid movements team before dispatch, they’re liable to forfeiture on arrival in the UK. Such action may also result in a financial penalty or revocation of your approval. If the amount to be consigned is less than you originally notified, failure to notify HMRC of the change before the goods are dispatched may result in delays to any claim for a repayment of overpaid duty. If less than a 48-hour notice is given, there may be a delay to the dispatch of the goods, as HMRC must communicate the changes to the authorities in your supplier’s member state.

For temporary certified consignees, one PTC can cover different brands and product types providing that the goods are from a single supplier and are dispatched together in one consignment. Each specific brand and product type must be correctly declared on your original HM4a form so that your PTC will be valid.

5. Overview of the EMCS process

5.1 Excise Movement and Control System (EMCS)

EMCS is an electronic system that records and validates movements of duty-suspended excise goods. From 13 February 2023, it was extended to also capture movements of duty-paid goods between Northern Ireland and the EU. This includes all movements by certified traders, whether standard or temporary versions. All references to certified consignor or certified consignee in this section equally apply to their temporary versions, unless it is clearly stated that there is a difference for temporary traders.

Further information on moving excise goods in duty suspension within the UK can be found in Excise Notice 197 - Receive goods into and remove goods from an excise warehouse

Unless EMCS is unavailable (see section 11), certified consignors of duty-paid excise goods must complete and submit a message known as an electronic Simplified Administrative Document (eSAD) using EMCS before a movement of excise goods can take place. The certified consignor is the only one who can raise the eSAD at the start of a movement. The certified consignee for each movement must submit a report of receipt against the relevant eSAD on EMCS to confirm the goods have been received and close the movement.

As a certified trader, you must make sure that you have registered to use and can access EMCS before you dispatch or order your first consignment. To register, you will need to use the registration number provided to you when HMRC approved your application to become a certified trader.

For help to use EMCS, you can read:

• how to register and use the Excise Movement and Control System
• help text on the EMCS screens

When the details entered on the eSAD have been validated, EMCS will generate a unique administrative reference code (ARC) for that particular movement. For movements starting in Northern Ireland, the ARC will begin ‘XI’.

The ARC is required to travel with the goods and must be made available for presentation when requested by the relevant authorities during the course of the movement.

5.2 IT systems you’ll need to send or receive goods as a certified trader

EMCS can be accessed through HMRC online services which does not require you to have any additional commercial software, only internet access.

Alternatively, you could use a third-party software to be able to access and use EMCS.  This could be done by developing an in-house IT system that interfaces with EMCS or by purchasing a bespoke IT system designed by a suitable software supplier to interface directly with EMCS.

Whichever option you choose, you will first need to register for access to HMRC online services (if you’re already registered for online services for another reason, you do not need to re-register). You will then need to add EMCS on to the list of services you wish to have access to. Your activation code will be sent to you through the post, which may take up to 7 days to process.

As access to EMCS requires an excise registration number, you will only be able to enrol once you have been approved as a Northern Ireland certified trader.

5.3 How the supplier knows that you are approved as a certified consignee

As an approved excise trader, your certified consignee ID, or the PTC reference for temporary certified consignees, is send the EU System for the Exchange of Excise Data (SEED). This information is shared between member states and your supplier will be able to verify your information according to the rules in their member state.

The information held by HMRC and SEED is also shared with EMCS. When your supplier attempts to create an eSAD for your consignment, and enters your excise ID, the system will automatically validate it.

5.4 If the PTC reference is not recognised when your supplier tries to raise the eSAD

There could be a number of reasons as to why your PTC reference may not be recognised. For example:

• your supplier may be entering the wrong number — you should make sure that you have provided your supplier with the correct PTC for that movement
• the PTC could have already been used — if the PTC has already been used to raise an eSAD, then it will not be valid for any further movements
• the PTC may not be available — if you attempt to use a PTC before the date of dispatch or after the date of arrival stated on your HM4a form, then the number will not be recognised

You may need to apply for a new PTC number for your consignment.

5.5 Does a copy of the eSAD need to travel with the goods

There is no legal requirement for a copy of the eSAD to accompany the movement, only the ARC.

5.6 What must travel with the goods

Before the start of a movement between Northern Ireland and the EU, the certified consignor must provide the person accompanying the goods (or the transporter or carrier if there is no accompanying person), with details of the ARC. That person must then be able to produce that ARC to HMRC (or an EU member state’s authorities), if requested during the journey. In some circumstances, they may also be required to provide additional follow-up information, such as a printed copy of the eSAD. The goods must also be consigned to the person shown on the eSAD as the certified consignee.

Goods moving under fallback arrangements must travel with an appropriate fallback accompanying document (read section 11).

If you move, or arrange for the movement of, excise goods without having met the requirements or following the processes set out in this notice, and for temporary certified consignees without prior payment of duty, the goods and vehicle will be liable to forfeiture, you may be liable to civil penalty and may even face prosecution.

You’ll find further accounting information in section 7.

5.7 How goods move under EMCS

This describes a standard movement of duty-paid excise goods between a certified consignor and certified consignee under EMCS between Northern Ireland and an EU country.

1. The certified consignor submits the electronic Simplified Administrative Document (eSAD) prior to the dispatch of the goods.

2. The eSAD is validated by the Excise Movement and Control System (EMCS). Part of this validation process will include a check of the approvals data held by HMRC which is shared with the EU System for the Exchange of Excise Data (SEED). If the eSAD is rejected, an error message is sent to the certified consignor who must amend and re-submit the eSAD with correct information.

3. Once validated, EMCS assigns the eSAD a unique administrative reference code (ARC) and saves a copy within the system. The certified consignor and certified consignee receive the validated eSAD, including the ARC, through EMCS.

4. The goods must be dispatched on the date and time of dispatch declared on the eSAD. The ARC for the movement must travel with the goods.

5. The certified consignee receives the goods, checks the consignment against the eSAD and makes a record of any excesses or shortages.

6. The certified consignee completes and submits the report of receipt on EMCS, no later than 5 days after receiving the goods, making sure any results from step 5 are included.

7. EMCS receives and validates the report of receipt against the eSAD for the movement. A copy of the report of receipt is saved within the system. If the report of receipt is rejected, an error message is sent back to the certified consignee who must amend and re-submit the report of receipt with correct information.

8. After validation, the report of receipt is sent to the certified consignee and certified consignor. If shortages have not been declared, the return of the report of receipt discharges the eSAD. When the report of receipt submitted by the certified consignee confirms shortages, HMRC will investigate further. The assessment and collection of any duties will be dealt with outside of EMCS.

5.8 Change of destination

Once a duty-paid movement has started on EMCS, the options for changes of destination are limited to just two. As a certified consignor, you may re-consign the goods:

• to the same certified consignee but a different delivery address — this address must be in the same EU member state
• back to yourself, for example where the EU certified consignee informs you that they no longer want the goods

You can only change the destination while the movement is still live — if the certified consignee has submitted a report of receipt on EMCS, this ends the movement and no change of destination can take place. Your customer would instead have to start a new movement to send the goods back to you.

5.9 When you receive the goods

As soon as you receive the goods, you must unload and check your consignment, then complete the electronic report of receipt on EMCS for the movement. If EMCS is not available for you to provide a report of receipt, you should wait for EMCS to become available and then provide your report of receipt in the normal way.

You must submit a report of receipt on EMCS within 5 business days of receipt of the goods.

As a certified consignee, you must account for the excise duty using deferment arrangements and the VAT on your VAT return.

As a temporary certified consignee, you must take some additional steps as soon as you receive the goods:

• calculate, and account for, the UK VAT payable on the consignment. If you’re not UK VAT registered, you should account for the VAT due by declaring the value for VAT on the HM4a form. You should add this information after receipt of the goods as you can only accurately calculate the value for VAT at this point.
• return form HM4a to the duty-paid movements team along with payment for any outstanding duty or VAT.
• make sure that any goods which are required to bear a duty stamp have one affixed within 14 days of the importation of the goods (see section 14)

We may not issue further HM4a forms if there are consignments or payment still outstanding. It is in your interest, therefore, to ensure the correct process for closing a movement on EMCS is followed before requesting an approval for any additional movements.

5.10 Documents to provide to HMRC

If you are a temporary certified consignee, you must return the form HM4a to our duty-paid movements team within 5 business days of receipt of the goods. You should keep a copy of the form for your records. If you are not VAT registered, you should also provide payment for the total amount of UK VAT payable on the consignment. Our preferred method of payment is by BACS.

5.11 Cancelation of an eSAD, rejection and alert messages

Certified consignees can reject an eSAD. If the consignment is not recognised by the certified consignee, is materially wrong or there is some other problem that prevents them from receiving the goods, the certified consignee must submit a rejection message on EMCS to notify the certified consignor of this.

If an eSAD has already been raised and the certified consignee no longer wants to receive the consignment, the eSAD cannot be cancelled. The certified consignor needs to follow the change of destination procedure to re-consign the goods back to themselves or to move them to some other premises for the same certified consignee.

If the certified consignee chooses to accept the consignment, the certified consignor does not need to take any further action. Any potential discrepancies in the quantities of the goods received, will be dealt with via the report of receipt submission process.

Certified consignees are also able to submit alert messages on EMCS. An alert message indicates that the certified consignee believes that there is a problem with the information on the eSAD for a particular consignment, for example, the quantity is not what they expected. As the certified consignor cannot respond back to an alert message through EMCS, they should discuss any issues with the certified consignee outside EMCS.

5.12 Discharge of the movement

The movement is discharged when you have received a report of receipt.

For EMCS movements, the receiving certified consignee must send a report of receipt through EMCS to the certified consignor within 5 days of receipt of the goods.

Certified consignors must:

• make sure that they access EMCS regularly and check that they have received the report of receipt
• check the report of receipt for any discrepancies

If you have not received a report of receipt for an EMCS movement within 5 days after the expected delivery date, you must inform HMRC.

If goods are dispatched from Northern Ireland and EMCS is not available in the receiving EU member state, you may receive a fallback report of receipt from the certified consignee in the EU member state. This document will be sent through the authorities of the EU member state concerned. When you receive a fallback report of receipt, you should check EMCS to find out if the electronic report of receipt message has already been submitted.

If the report of receipt has:

• been submitted on EMCS, the fallback report of receipt can be discarded
• not been submitted on EMCS yet, the certified consignee will submit this message to discharge the movement when EMCS is available in the EU member state — you should keep the fallback report of receipt until the EMCS report of receipt is received

If EMCS is available in the receiving EU member state, but the certified consignee is unable to complete the report of receipt, a manual closure may be required. This can only be done by the authorities in the country of dispatch, so you (as the certified consignor) would need to provide alternative evidence to HMRC that the goods reached their destination (read section 5.13). Upon receipt of satisfactory evidence, HMRC will carry out the manual closure.

Both you and the certified consignee should receive a message through EMCS confirming that the movement has been manually closed.

5.13 Alternative evidence of discharge of a movement

HMRC accepts that it may not always be possible for a report of receipt to be returned to the certified consignor and we may, in exceptional circumstances, allow other evidence to be provided. Other evidence will only be accepted if the certified consignor, or provider of the movement guarantee, can show that they have made every reasonable effort to get the report of receipt from the certified consignee.

Where every effort has been made, and the report of receipt is not available, the Commissioners may accept an endorsement by the competent authorities of the EU Member State of destination that the goods covered by the relevant eSAD have been delivered to the certified consignee — find contact details for the fiscal authorities in EU member states by searching Customs Office Information on the Europa website

In exceptional circumstances, you may be unable to obtain any of the accepted forms of evidence showing that the goods have arrived at their intended destination. If so, we’ll consider other evidence on a case-by-case basis. But the person who provides the movement guarantee must be able to demonstrate that they have tried to obtain alternative evidence. This other evidence, as a minimum, must show that all the goods were received at the certified consignee’s premises.

If no report of receipt is received, we may not allow a claim for the reimbursement of the UK duty unless satisfactory evidence is provided that the goods were exported from Northern Ireland and you can prove that the goods have not been and will not be consumed in the UK.

6. Irregularities

6.1 If the goods travel without the ARC

Excise goods found to be travelling in Northern Ireland without the ARC and the consignment cannot be verified as legitimate by any other means, the goods will be liable to forfeiture, therefore you should take steps to always make sure that the ARC travels with the goods.

If goods arrive without either an ARC or a Fallback Accompanying Document (see section 11), you must inform the duty-paid movements team immediately.

6.2 If you receive goods with a Fallback Accompanying Document instead of an ARC

If EMCS is unavailable at the time the goods are dispatched they will travel under ‘fallback’ arrangements (see section 11), which require the goods to be accompanied by a fallback accompanying document (FAD). You will be able to identify this document because it will include all the same data as an eSAD would. If a consignment of duty-paid goods is received under cover of a FAD, you should wait for your consignment to be shown on EMCS and then provide your report of receipt on EMCS in the normal way.

The FAD will not include an ARC, as the movement was not recorded on EMCS at the time of dispatch. A Local Reference Number (LRN) provided by the certified consignor will uniquely identify the movement instead. As soon as the system becomes available again in the EU member state, the certified consignor will record the movement on to EMCS. You can use the LRN provided by the certified consignor, in place of the ARC, to identify your movement on EMCS.

6.3 If EMCS is not available to submit the report of receipt

If EMCS is not available for you to provide a report of receipt, you should wait for EMCS to become available and then provide your report of receipt in the normal way.

6.4 If the goods are not what you ordered

If the goods are not what you ordered (for example, a different brand or product) you should still take full account of the goods when they arrive and note any such irregularities on the report of receipt.

If you subsequently decide to return the goods to the sender, then you may be able to reclaim the UK duty you’ve paid on them through the excise duty drawback scheme. For further information on the conditions and requirements for claiming drawback, see Excise Notice 207: Excise duty drawback.

6.5 If you discover shortages on receipt

You should declare any shortages when submitting the report of receipt on EMCS.

Make sure you enter the actual goods received in your records and EMCS.

The duty-paid movements team will advise you what steps to take to account for the duty on any chargeable losses in the consignment. If you can demonstrate that the loss is the result of the actual nature of the goods or an accident, we may not require payment of the duty. HMRC will normally only allow a refund for allowable losses or where it can be shown that the goods were never dispatched. Allowable losses are losses due either to a genuine accident or to the nature of the goods. You should provide full details to the duty-paid movements team for us to consider on a case-by-case basis.

In some circumstances you may also wish to consider submitting an explanation on reasons for shortages or excesses message. Unlike the information that can and should be entered on the report of receipt when reporting a shortage, this message can only be read by you, the UK authorities and the authorities in the member state of dispatch. This message can be useful where you may wish to provide information regarding discrepancies that may be sensitive and which you do not wish to share with your supplier.

If you’ve over-paid any duty, you must submit a written request for repayment to us. You should enclose all relevant supporting documentation (for example, dispatch note, invoice, ARC and copy of the eSAD).

6.6 If you discover excesses on receipt

Excesses should not normally happen, as you’re required to inform HMRC of any changes before the movement starts, and the correct quantities must also be shown on the eSAD, which must match your original declaration.

You must account for the UK duty on all excesses. Notify the duty-paid movements team immediately and they’ll give you advice on how to proceed.

If you subsequently decide to return the goods to the sender, then you may be able to reclaim the UK duty you’ve paid on them through the excise duty drawback scheme. For further information on the conditions and requirements for claiming drawback, see Excise Notice 207: Excise duty drawback.

If you do not pay duty on any excess goods you receive, they’ll be liable to forfeiture.

In some circumstances you may also wish to consider submitting an explanation on reasons for shortages or excesses message (read section 6.5).

6.7 If the goods do not arrive on the intended date

As soon as you become aware that the goods will not arrive on the intended date of arrival indicated on form HM4a, or have not arrived on the expected date, you should notify the duty-paid movements team.

Any changes of more than 24 hours to the expected date of arrival must be notified to the duty-paid movements team immediately. They’ll advise you what steps to take.

6.8 If you receive an EMCS message for a movement that you’re not expecting or is incorrect

On EMCS you will be able to see the details of all movements that are consigned to you. As soon as you become aware of an unwanted consignment, for example, one that you believe has been incorrectly consigned to you, or which is a different brand or quantity than you asked for, you should contact your supplier to alert them to the problem.

EMCS provides the ability to do this electronically. You have the option to send either an alert message in relation to a specific consignment to inform the certified consignor of an error on the eSAD, or to send a rejection message in order to reject the consignment entirely. The certified consignor can then change the intended destination.

In the event of an unwanted consignment physically arriving at your premises, you should immediately notify the duty-paid movements team who will advise you on what you should do.

6.9 Event reports

If you become aware that goods dispatched by you have not arrived at their destination, you must contact the duty-paid movements team immediately. You must also try to find out what happened to the goods.

Where there’s a serious incident affecting the movement, for example an accident or theft, you should contact the HMRC EMCS helpline immediately. HMRC will raise an event report on EMCS, based on the information you provide. This message will be visible to both certified consignor and certified consignee.

When an event report is raised by the authorities in an EU member state there may be documents attached, which you’ll not be able to view on EMCS. In these cases, the message you receive will tell you that there is an attachment that has been removed.

You can get a copy of the attachment by contacting the HMRC EMCS helpline.

Where you fulfil your legal responsibilities in respect of goods moved under cover of an eSAD and an irregularity occurs during the movement, if you did not provide the movement guarantee and are not responsible for the duty on the goods, you’re not liable to pay the duty due.

The person who provided the movement guarantee is responsible for the liability to pay the duty on goods that fail to reach the certified consignee.

The rate of duty which applies will depend upon the EU member state in which the loss occurred, was detected or was deemed to have occurred.

If the certified consignee retains any excess goods, they take on the duty liability for those goods. They should note the details of excesses on the report of receipt and account for any additional duty.

7. Calculation of the duty

7.1 How to work out the duty payable

You are responsible for working out the correct UK duty due on each consignment, even if someone else works out the duty value on your behalf.

You must:

• determine the correct 3-digit tax type code for each product
• use the correct code for each class of goods received

You should then calculate the duty due on the consignment. Section 18 provides information to help you with your duty calculation.

7.2 Rate to use

You must use the rate in force for the type of goods you intend to receive at the time when the goods are received.

7.3 Finding more information about tax types and duty rates

Current duty rates and tax types are published in Volume 1 of the Integrated Tariff of the UK. You can find the current duty rates in the Rates and allowances and Alcohol Duty rates.

7.4 Duty account

You must keep a duty account in accordance with our guidance in Excise Notice 206: revenue traders’ records summarising:

• all your transactions
• the duty which you are liable to pay

The duty account and its supporting documents must show:

• the duty due in each accounting period
• the excise duty point for each consignment
• the date and method of payment of any duty due
• any adjustments made to the amount of duty due in current or earlier accounting periods (for further information see section 13)

You should make sure that your duty account is kept fully up to date and a separate duty account must be kept for each scheme you use.

The account must have an audit trail. This means that each entry in the account must be traceable back to the relevant source document. Similarly, it must be possible to trace any source document to the relevant entry in the duty account.

8. Certified consignees and consignors

8.1 What a certified consignee is

A certified consignee is someone who is approved to import goods into Northern Ireland that are already duty-paid in an EU member state and defer payment of the duty using their own or someone else’s duty deferment account. Under this arrangement the duty is guaranteed by the duty deferment guarantee.

All movements of duty-paid goods into Northern Ireland from the EU must be received by a certified consignee.

If you import duty-paid goods only occasionally, you may apply for approval as a temporary certified consignee, however each movement approval will be limited to a single movement from a single supplier and valid for a specified period of time.

Apart from the difference in payment method and the ability to have the goods delivered to other business addresses, the same procedures apply to temporary certified consignees as to those traders using the certified consignee duty-paid scheme (see sections 4 to 7).

8.2 How to apply to become a certified or a temporary certified consignee

To apply to become a certified, or a temporary certified, consignee you must complete form HM3 and return it to the address on the form. Further information on the registration and approval process can be found in section 9.

8.3 Requirements you must meet before you can apply to become a certified consignee

To become a certified consignee, you must:

• have a place of business based in the United Kingdom — this however, is on condition that movements on which you are accounting for duty are of goods being delivered to a Northern Ireland address — this is where you must receive the goods.
• have a duty deferment account, or have written permission to use someone else’s deferment account (see section 10)
• be able to demonstrate a business need to become a certified consignee — for example, you should be able to provide HMRC with a viable business plan for your proposed business, including details of who you intend buying goods from and details of your customer base
• be able to demonstrate suitability to be a certified consignee, for example, that you or any key personnel of the business do not have any unspent convictions or a recent compounded settlement

If you are using the temporary certified consignee scheme, there is no requirement to have a, or use someone else’s, duty deferment account as the UK duty must be secured with HMRC before the goods are dispatched.

Approval as a temporary certified consignee may also be granted to private individuals importing duty-paid goods, for commercial purposes, into Northern Ireland from EU member states. They cannot obtain approval as a fully certified consignee.

8.4 How far in advance you should apply to become a certified consignee or a temporary certified consignee

You must submit the completed application form to HMRC no less than 45 working days prior to the date from which you want to be approved.

8.5 Notify us of every consignment you receive as a temporary certified consignee

As a temporary certified consignee, it is a legal requirement for you to notify HMRC, and secure the excise duty on the goods, before each consignment is dispatched.

You should do this by submitting a completed form HM4a to the duty-paid movements team for each consignment.

8.6 What a certified consignor is

A certified consignor is someone who is approved to export excise goods from Northern Ireland to EU member states that are already UK duty-paid.

If you are exporting duty-paid goods only occasionally, you may apply to be approved as a temporary certified consignor, however each movement approval will be limited to a specified quantity of excise goods, a single consignee within a specified period of time.

A temporary certification, for a single movement, may also be granted to private individuals sending duty-paid goods for commercial purposes from Northern Ireland to EU member states.

8.7 How to register as a certified consignor

To apply to become a certified consignor you must complete form HM3 and return it to the address on the form.

You must submit the completed application form to HMRC no less than 45 working days prior to the date from which you want to be registered.

8.8 Requirements you must meet before you can apply to become a certified consignor

You need to:

• have a place of business based in the United Kingdom — this however, is on condition that movements of duty-paid goods are dispatched to an EU member state from a Northern Ireland address
• be able to demonstrate a business need to become a certified consignor — for example, you should be able to provide HMRC with a viable business plan for your proposed business, including details of who you intend to send the goods to, who are you buying the goods from and details of your customer base
• be able to demonstrate suitability to be a certified consignor — for example, that you or any key personnel of the business do not have any unspent convictions or a recent compounded settlement

If you export duty-paid goods from Northern Ireland to the EU as a certified or a temporary certified consignor, you may be able to reclaim the UK paid duty through the excise duty drawback scheme.

For further information on the conditions and requirements for claiming drawback, see Excise Notice 207: Excise duty drawback.

8.9 Notify us of every consignment you dispatch as a temporary certified consignor

As a temporary certified consignor, it is a legal requirement for you to notify HMRC before each consignment is dispatched.

You should do this by submitting a completed PTA request form to the Excise Processing Team for each consignment.

9. Registration and approval process

9.1 Who needs to apply for approval

If you want to receive goods as a certified consignee, a temporary certified consignee (see section 8) or a tax representative (see section 13), then you must apply for approval.

If you want to send goods as a certified consignor or a temporary certified consignor, you must apply for approval and follow the process.

Wherever we use the term certified consignor or certified consignee in this section we also mean the temporary versions of those schemes.

Traders with existing approvals for sending or receiving excise goods under duty-suspension, who also wish to trade in duty-paid goods, will require an additional approval as a certified trader.

You must provide your existing approval number or numbers on the application form and HMRC may grant your certified trader approval without requiring any additional checks.

9.2 Information you must provide in support of your application

You must provide all the information requested in the application form. You must provide HMRC with details of:

• your business (including whether you are VAT registered)
• the type or types of goods that you want to be approved to send or receive
• any current or previous excise authorisations or approvals (including any applications that were refused)
• any unspent convictions under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) (other than for minor motoring offences), or any compounded settlements accepted during the preceding 3 years
• any deferment arrangements that you have in place

9.3 If you provide false or misleading information

If you provide false or misleading information on your application form, HMRC may:

• revoke any registration or approval which we have granted
• impose penalties
• prosecute you

9.4 If your application is rejected

HMRC may refuse to approve you. In particular, we reserve the right not to approve and register anyone who (at the time of applying) has an ‘unspent’ conviction under ROA (other than for minor motoring offences) or has accepted a compounded settlement during the preceding 3 years. In the case of partnerships and limited companies, this also applies to all the partners or key officials of the company.

You should not assume that we will agree to approve you. In particular, you should not place orders or enter into any binding financial agreements on the assumption that we will grant approval.

9.5 When your application is accepted

If HMRC accepts your application, we will issue you with a certificate of registration. You should check the accuracy of the details on the certificate which should be kept in a safe place and made available to our officers on request. Any inaccuracies should be reported to the Excise Processing Teams (EPT) immediately (see section 16).

If we do not accept your application, we will inform you in writing and give our reasons for the rejection. If you disagree with our decision, you have the right to appeal.

For further information on what you should do if you want to appeal against our decision, see section 15.

9.6 Tell us about business changes

You must notify us of any changes to the core detail on your certificate of registration, for example, a change of address. If the legal status of your business or company changes, for example, a sole proprietor becomes a partnership, the new legal entity must apply in its own right. We will not automatically approve the new applicant. Where registration is no longer required you must advise us in order that we may cancel your approval (see section 9.10).

You should also tell us when there are significant changes to your corporate structure affecting the day to day running of the business, for example a change of directors.

You must advise the EPT in writing within 7 days of the change taking effect. They’ll either provide you with a new certificate or an amendment to your current one, depending on the change.

You must destroy the previous certificate as soon as you receive the replacement certificate.

Failure to advise us of any changes may result in the revocation of your approval.

9.7 Categories of excise goods you want to trade in

On the application form you’ll need to indicate what categories of excise goods you wish to send or receive. You must demonstrate a business need for each category of goods you want to import or export.

Your registration certificate will show which categories you are authorised to send or receive.

9.8 Conditions to approval

There are standard conditions that must be complied with to remain approved as a certified trader or tax representative. You must:

• continue to meet the certified consignee, certified consignor or tax representative requirements
• follow all the procedures set out in this Notice, including the application of appropriate due diligence checks (see section 19)

All certified consignees, certified consignors (including their temporary versions) and tax representatives must comply with the conditions and restrictions detailed in this notice. In addition, HMRC may apply specific conditions to your approval, which we will list on your certificate of registration.

For information on what you should do if you disagree with any conditions we impose, see section 15.

9.9 Additional conditions to your approval

We may apply specific conditions to your approval, which we will list on your certificate of registration.

For information on what you should do if you want to appeal against this decision, see section 15.

9.10 When we can revoke or vary the terms of your approval

We can revoke or vary the terms of your approval immediately at any time for reasonable cause. For example, where appropriate due diligence checks are not being carried out.

If we revoke your approval, we will inform you in writing giving the reasons for our action.

You must destroy your certificate of registration the day either your approval ceases or you receive your replacement certificate.

For information on what you should do if you want to appeal against this decision, see section 15.

9.11 How to cancel approval

If you want to cancel your approval you must write to the EPT at least 30 days before the date on which you want to cancel it. HMRC will not normally cancel an approval until any outstanding duty has been paid and for temporary certified consignees, all HM4a forms issued to you accounted for.

We will inform you in writing that your approval has been cancelled. On the date of cancellation, you must destroy your certificate of registration.

You’ll remain liable for any unpaid duty on goods imported by you whilst you were approved.

10. Accounting for duty using deferment arrangements

10.1 Deferment arrangements to account for duty

Anyone approved as a certified consignee or a tax representative in Northern Ireland must use deferment arrangements to account for the UK duty on duty-paid goods they receive. Anyone receiving goods as a temporary certified consignee cannot defer the duty and must secure it before the goods are dispatched.

Any deferment account used to account for certified consignee or tax representative transactions must have a guarantee in place which covers 100 % of the total duty liability.

10.2 Applying for a duty deferment account

Find more information about how to check which type of account to apply for to defer duty payments when you import goods.

10.3 How to get authorisation to use another person’s deferment account

If you are a certified consignee, you must get written authority, on form HM8, from the person whose duty deferment account you want to use.

You must send the completed form to the duty-paid movements team. Once they’ve received this form, they’ll notify you of the date from which you may use the third-party deferment account.

You should get confirmation from the duty deferment account holder, that the duty deferment guarantee level is sufficient to cover the duty for the period of use. A separate form must be completed and sent to us for each third-party deferment account you want to use.

If you are a tax representative, you may not use another person’s deferment account, so must have your own deferment account in place.

10.4 If your duty deferment account number changes

You must tell HMRC if your duty deferment account number changes.

10.5 How to account for the duty on consignments received

At the end of each calendar month accounting period, you must calculate the duty due for each tax type and complete the relevant return form with this information.

For certified consignees, this is form HM2 and for tax representatives it is form HM10.

If you are a certified consignee using other people’s deferment accounts, a separate return must be used for each deferment account you intend duty to be paid through.

Each return must include all goods on which the duty is being paid using that deferment account. If you are authorised as either a certified consignee or a tax representative, you must use separate returns for each scheme.

Your return (or returns) must be completed and delivered to the duty-paid movements team within 4 consecutive working days (3 if a non-business day intervenes) after the end of the accounting period.

HMRC may allow you to submit plain paper returns as long as they contain the same information as the official return. If you want to submit plain paper returns you should send an example of your proposed document to the duty-paid movements team so they can consider your proposal.

10.6 Time limit to how much duty you can declare in each period

You must declare all duty due within each accounting period, so there is no limit to how much you can declare on each return. However, due to Bacs payment scheme restrictions, HMRC can no longer collect direct debits in excess of £20 million. If you need to make a payment which exceeds £20 million, you should make arrangements to pay us, on the due date, by an alternative payment method such as CHAPS.

10.7 The rate to use

For certified consignees, duty is due on the goods at the rates in force at the time when the goods are received at their registered address.

For tax representatives, duty is due on the goods at the rates in force at the time that the goods are imported. However, if you do not know the time of importation, you may use the rates in force at the time of dispatch.

You can find the current duty rates in: - Rates and allowances - Alcohol Duty rates

10.8 If the duty rate changes during an accounting period

When you are completing your returns, you should check that you are using the correct rate of duty in force at the duty point.

10.9 Your accounting period

You must use calendar monthly accounting periods.

10.10 If you fail to submit returns on time

If you fail to submit your returns in time, HMRC may:

• impose civil penalties
• revoke your approval

If you disagree with our actions, you have the right to appeal. For further information on what you should do if you want to appeal, see section 15.

10.11 Nil returns

Yes. You must submit a return for accounting periods in which your duty liability is ‘nil’.

10.12 If you find errors in any accounting period

For all errors on returns submitted, you must make the necessary adjustments clearly in your records by tax type for the current accounting period in a way which makes it easy for us to check. You must draw attention to the adjustment by ticking the relevant box on your next return.

For errors amounting to a total net duty of £2,000 or more, you must also inform the duty-paid movements team in writing as soon as the errors are found.

These procedures do not apply where HMRC has begun to examine your accounts for the periods in which the errors were made. Nor do they cover any case where you are aware that an irregularity has occurred which involves a breach of the law.

10.13 If you’ve overpaid

If you’ve overpaid duty to us, those sums must usually be offset against the same tax type code on subsequent declarations made using the same deferment account.

However, if you can justify a request for direct repayment you should complete form Claim for repayment of excise duty (HM6) and submit it to the duty-paid movements team. HMRC will accept such requests only if we are satisfied that you cannot make the adjustment through your normal systems, for example, if you have an unusually high duty liability for a particular tax type in one particular accounting period. We will only repay the holder of the deferment account which was originally debited.

10.14 If we find errors

If we discover errors, we will tell you what you must do. We will also tell you if we decide to impose sanctions.

10.15 How to pay

HMRC will check your return and debit the appropriate sums from the relevant deferment account on the next ‘payment day’.

The payment day for certified consignee and tax representative transactions is the 15th of each month following each accounting period (except for beer which is the 25th of each month).

If the payment date falls on a non-banking day (when banks are closed) the payment date is:

• the last banking day before the 25th of the month for beer
• the first banking day after the 15th of the month for all other goods

10.16 Statements

Seven days before the payment day we will send each deferment account holder a statement showing the amount being debited.

10.17 Queries about your deferment holder’s statement

If you identify a discrepancy in the statement, you should check your records thoroughly and establish if it relates to certified consignee or tax representative transactions.

If it does, you should contact the duty-paid movements team who will advise on the appropriate action to be taken.

11. If EMCS is not available

11.1 General information

You need to apply fallback procedures if EMCS is not available. This is when you cannot:

• access it
• submit messages on it because of a system problem

A system problem may affect:

• all users — for example when there is a fault with EMCS
• just you — for example, when there is a fault with your hardware, software or internet connection

EMCS will display advisory messages when a problem concerning access or message submission affects all users.

It is your responsibility to make sure that you have robust systems in place.

The fallback procedures are intended to allow businesses to continue to move duty-paid excise goods when there is a genuine system problem that prevents the use of EMCS. If you misuse the fallback procedures, HMRC may review the conditions and approvals necessary for you to continue to trade under duty suspension arrangements.

You should keep sufficient evidence to show why EMCS was not available.

In most cases you will not need to apply the fallback procedures described in this notice. If you need to use EMCS when it is not available, if possible you should wait for EMCS to become available and then submit messages in the normal way, rather than use the fallback procedures.

If you use commercial software to access EMCS that’s not available in time to submit your message, you should use the EMCS online service when it is possible and practical to do so, rather than use the fallback procedures.

If either EMCS or your commercial software is not available and it is not possible and practical to use the EMCS online service, you should then apply the fallback procedures described within this notice. It is for you to decide if you need to use the fallback procedures, subject to meeting the conditions set out in this notice.

If EMCS is not available in an EU member state, the EU certified consignor or certified consignee may also apply fallback procedures.

When EMCS becomes available in that EU member state, the certified consignor or certified consignee will submit their message or messages on EMCS in the normal way.

11.2 Movement requirements under fallback procedure

If you dispatch duty-paid goods and EMCS is not available to submit the eSAD, you must use the fallback procedure.

When starting a movement, instead of creating an eSAD on EMCS, you will need to produce a paper Fallback Accompanying Document (FAD), which must accompany the goods throughout the journey. The FAD will identify the consignment as a legitimate fallback movement of duty-paid goods.

For certified consignees (including their temporary version) receiving duty-paid goods from the EU under the fallback procedure, please read section 11.6.

11.3 How to start a movement in fallback as a certified consignor

As a Certified Consignor or a Temporary Certified Consignor, you must complete the NoMF form and email it to emcs.helpdesk@hmrc.gov.uk.

If you are a certified consignor, the NoMF will notify HMRC that you’re dispatching goods using fallback procedures. The email subject title must be in the format ‘Consignor Excise ID — Local Reference Number for the movement — ‘DP FAD’.

If you are a Temporary Certified Consignor, you must first complete the PTA request form (see section 4.8) to request an authorisation to dispatch a single consignment, before completing a NoMF to notify HMRC that you are using fallback procedures. The endorsed PTA request form that HMRC will return to you, will include a PTA reference unique to that individual movement — this PTA is the one that you should provide to the EU certified consignee for them to use as your excise ID so they can verify your approval. The email subject title when sending the NoMF must be in the format ‘PTA reference — Local Reference Number for the movement — ‘DP FAD’.

The EU certified consignee in the member state of destination should also provide you with their own excise ID. You need to verify that the certified consignee excise ID provided is valid and approved to receive the goods which you intend to send to them. You can do this by either:

• looking at SEED on the European Commission website
• contacting our National Verification Centre (NVC)

Before the goods leave your premises, you must also complete the fallback accompanying document (FAD).

A copy of the FAD must be provided to the person transporting the goods so that it can accompany the goods throughout their journey. You must also keep a copy for your records.

The goods can now be dispatched.

11.4 How to change destination of the goods under fallback procedures

Once a duty-paid movement has started under fallback, changes of destination are limited to just two options. You may reconsign the goods:

• to the same certified consignee but a different delivery address in the same EU member state
• back to yourself, for example where the EU certified consignee informs you that they no longer want the goods

You can only change the destination while the movement is still live — if you have subsequently input the original fallback movement onto EMCS and the certified consignee has submitted a report of receipt, the movement has ended and no change of destination can take place. Your customer would instead have to start a new movement to send the goods back to you.

If EMCS is still not available and you want to change the destination of a movement which started under fallback, you must submit a fallback change of destination (FCoD). This must be cross-referenced to the original FAD for the movement by making sure that the LRN you assigned to the FAD is also shown in the appropriate place on the FCoD.

Before you change the destination of the goods you must complete the FCoD form and email it to emcs.helpdesk@hmrc.gov.uk to notify HMRC that you’re changing the destination of goods using fallback procedures. The email subject title must be in the format ‘Consignor Excise ID — Local Reference Number for a movement that began and is still moving under fallback procedures — DP COD’.

Then you can amend the destination of the goods. You must keep a copy of the fallback change of destination document.

You should inform the original consignee of the change in delivery address, where this discussion has not already taken place.

You should also tell the transporter to make a note on the FAD of the:

• date and time you advised them of the change of destination
• fact that the change of destination has been notified using fallback procedures
• new place of delivery details and the new consignee details, if appropriate

If you want to reconsign the goods to a different customer, you must first bring the goods back to the original address of dispatch and close the movement by submitting a report of receipt yourself.

If EMCS is still not available, you will then need to create a new FAD to consign the goods to the new customer before dispatching them to the new delivery address. If you are a temporary certified consignor you, will need to complete a new PTA request form to obtain a new PTA reference before this can happen.

11.5 How to close a movement under fallback as a certified consignor

As soon as EMCS becomes available, you must record the movement on to EMCS.

Once the goods have been received, the EU certified consignee will wait for you to record the movement on to EMCS before completing and submitting a report of receipt in the normal way. As the FAD will not contain an ARC, the certified consignee will use the Local Reference Number (LRN), in place of the ARC, to uniquely identify the movement on EMCS.

This will close the movement and discharge the movement guarantee.

You may be entitled to claim reimbursement of the UK excise duty through the excise duty drawback scheme. You may need to provide the fallback report of receipt as part of your evidence to support a drawback claim.

For further information on excise duty drawback see Notice 207.

11.6 If you receive duty-paid goods under fallback procedure as a certified consignee

If EMCS is unavailable at the time the goods are dispatched by the EU certified consignor, they will travel under fallback arrangements, which require the goods to be accompanied by a FAD. This document should contain the same information as the eSAD.

If a consignment of duty-paid goods is received under cover of a FAD, you should wait for your consignment to be shown on EMCS and then provide your report of receipt on EMCS in the normal way.

The FAD will not include an ARC, as the movement was not recorded on EMCS at the time of dispatch. A Local Reference Number (LRN) provided by the certified consignor will uniquely identify the movement instead. As soon as the system becomes available again in the EU member state, the certified consignor will record the movement on to EMCS. You can use the LRN provided by the certified consignor, in place of the ARC, to identify your movement on EMCS.

If goods arrive without either an ARC or a FAD, you must inform the duty-paid movements team immediately.

You should check the goods carefully before submitting your report of receipt on EMCS and account for any shortages or excesses in the normal way. If you decide that you want to return the goods after you have submitted the report of receipt, this will be a new movement. In this situation, you will need to hold an approval as a certified consignor to send those goods back to your supplier.

12. Distance selling

12.1 What distance selling is

For the purposes of this notice, distance selling is the sale of excise goods by a vendor in an EU member state to a private individual in Northern Ireland. For example, this could be sales over the internet.

It does not apply to sales to Northern Ireland from outside the EU. For information on the rules regarding non-EU sales, see Notice 143: a guide for international post users.

12.2 Requirements for distance sales

To account for the UK duty on goods sold through a distance sales transaction, you must be authorised as a tax representative in Northern Ireland (see section 13).

12.3 Buying goods from a member state, for example, over the internet

The vendor in the member state of dispatch is responsible for ensuring that the UK duty is paid before they send the goods. However, the vendor is likely to pass on this cost in the purchase price. If the vendor does not make sure that the UK duty is paid, the goods are liable to forfeiture on arrival in Northern Ireland.

12.4 How to account for the Northern Ireland duty as a vendor in an EU member state

You must appoint a tax representative in Northern Ireland to account for the duty on your behalf (see section 13). The UK duty must be secured before the goods are dispatched; otherwise the goods are liable to forfeiture on arrival in the Northern Ireland.

For distance sales on behalf of vendors in EU member states, a Tax Representative must submit details of each individual consignment to HMRC by completing a ‘Tax Representative request to import duty-paid excise goods bought in an EU Member State’ (HM4b) form.

Goods must only be dispatched once that HM4b form has been returned to you, endorsed with the unique excise ID for that movement.

You must account for the UK excise duty on the goods you receive using deferment arrangements. This requires you to have a suitable deferment account and to submit monthly returns.

For more information on this process see section 10.

12.5 How to tell that UK duty has been paid, as a purchaser

You should expect the price you pay to reflect the payment of UK duty — if the price is very low, it is likely that the vendor does not intend to pay the UK duty. In addition, some websites openly advertise that they’ll misdeclare goods, to try to avoid paying the UK duty. In both of these circumstances, the goods would be liable to forfeiture on arrival in Northern Ireland, so you should be very careful about where you purchase your goods from.

12.6 If the UK duty has not been paid before the goods are dispatched

There is no facility to pay the UK duty due on goods sent from an EU member state when they arrive in the Northern Ireland. If the duty has not been paid before the goods are dispatched, the goods are liable to forfeiture on arrival in Northern Ireland.

13. Tax representatives

13.1 What a tax representative is

A tax representative, legally defined in Northern Ireland HMDP as a Northern Ireland tax representative, is approved and authorised to account for excise duty on distance sales on behalf of vendors in EU member states.

13.2 How to become a Northern Ireland tax representative

You must apply to become a Northern Ireland tax representative by completing Application to register as a tax representative (HM9). You must provide all the information requested on the form. Further information on the registration and approval process can be found in section 9.

13.3 How to account for UK duty as a tax representative

As a tax representative, you should account for the duty using deferment arrangements; therefore you should make sure that you have a deferment account in place before you apply for authorisation as a tax representative. You may not use someone else’s deferment account to account for the duty on distance sales. For more information on accounting for duty using deferment arrangements, see section 10.

13.4 You can only be a tax representative if you are established in Northern Ireland

To become a tax representative, you must be established in Northern Ireland.

13.5 Keep a separate duty account and records for any consignments for which you act as a tax representative

Your duty account should easily identify each distance sale that you accounted for as a tax representative from any other Northern Ireland excise transactions you may have been responsible for. For further information on the type of information that you should record in your duty account, see section 7.4.

14. UK duty stamps

14.1 Goods that must have a stamp

All bottles and other retail containers of spirits, and wine or made-wine, with a strength of 30% alcohol by volume or more, with a capacity of 35cl or more, are required to have a duty stamp when removed to home use in the UK.

14.2 Different types of duty stamp

The duty stamp comes in 2 formats:

• a product specific stamp (known as a type A or free-standing stamp) which must be attached directly to the bottle
• a label stamp (referred to in the law as a type B stamp), which is incorporated into bottle labels and printed by the industry’s own label printers

If you want label stamps you must be authorised as a certified consignee or a tax representative.

14.3 When the stamps must be affixed

If you are receiving unstamped products from the EU as a certified consignee or a temporary certified consignee, you must affix stamps within 14 days of the arrival of your goods in Northern Ireland. Alternatively, you can receive goods which already bear either a free-standing or label stamp which has been affixed by a person in a member state.

If you are a tax representative, any product you receive must be stamped before the goods arrive in Northern Ireland.

If you are required to and fail to affix stamps within the correct time period, the goods are liable to forfeiture. You may also be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine of up to £5,000, or a civil penalty.

14.4 How to get duty stamps

If you are approved as a temporary certified consignee, you should request duty stamps from our duty-paid movements team by completing the duty stamps declaration part of form HM4a.

HMRC will then provide you with free-standing duty stamps, as well as the unique PTC reference for that consignment. We will only supply sufficient stamps for the consignment you are importing.

If you’ve been approved by HMRC as a certified consignee or a tax representative, you must apply to become registered to get duty stamps. Once registered, you may acquire free-standing stamps or the design specification for the label stamp.

If you are a tax representative importing distance sales, the stamps must be affixed before the goods are dispatched to Northern Ireland.

You’ll find more details on the requirements for registration and how to get stamps in Excise Notice DS5: UK Duty Stamps Scheme.

14.5 Information you’ll need to give on your duty stamp declaration

You’ll need to provide the following information:

• your name and address
• the delivery address for the stamps (this must be the address where you intend affixing the stamps)
• the type of product you are importing, that is, whisky, gin, vodka, rum, brandy, or other product and its alcoholic strength
• the number of bottles you are importing and their size

You must also sign a declaration confirming that the goods will not already bear duty stamps when they’re imported.

14.6 If you receive goods that already have a stamp

If the goods you receive already have duty stamps, and you’ve received free-standing stamps from the duty-paid movements team for that consignment, you must return them to HMRC. Failure to do so may render you liable to a civil penalty for each stamp that you fail to return.

14.7 If you do not have enough free-standing stamps

If you receive more goods than you ordered, you are required to notify the duty-paid movements team. When they’ve received payment of the additional duty due, they’ll provide sufficient additional stamps.

You should note that, where this happens, stamps must still be affixed to the goods within 14 days of their arrival in Northern Ireland. It is therefore in your interests to make sure that HMRC receives payment of any additional duty as soon as possible.

14.8 If your stamps are lost, stolen or damaged

In these circumstances you should inform the duty-paid movements team by the end of the business day following the day on which the loss or the discovery of the loss occurred. Depending on the circumstances, they’ll then provide you with replacement stamps.

14.9 If you do not have the correct stamps for the goods you receive

In these circumstances you should contact the duty-paid movements team. They’ll then advise you of the correct action to take.

Normally HMRC will require you to return the incorrect stamps and reissue you with appropriate replacements. However, you must also confirm that the alcohol by volume (ABV) and volume of the product are identical to the detail originally notified to us. If they’re not, then you must also arrange for any outstanding duties to be paid before we will provide replacement stamps.

14.10 Further information

You can find more information in Excise Notice DS5: UK Duty Stamps Scheme.

15. General information

15.1 HMRC visits

There are times when we will visit businesses and premises.

We may visit:

• your business, from time to time, to check your business records, systems and premises, check the details of your application and give you guidance

• the delivery address shown on form HM4, to check the consignment

• your transporter, to verify the movement details shown on the endorsed HM4

When we visit you must do all of the following:

• admit us to your premises

• produce records for us to check

• allow us to inspect any stock

Alternatively, there may be occasions when we ask you to come to one of our offices to discuss your imports.

15.2 Appointments

We will normally make an appointment. Occasionally, visits are made without an appointment, but the attending officer will give the reason for the unannounced visit.

We aim to carry out our visits as quickly and efficiently as possible. You can help by providing the relevant records and helping us understand them, especially if there is anything special or unusual about your particular business.

15.3 Safety of HMRC officers

While our officers are on your premises you must make sure their safety at all times.

15.4 What to expect

We will:

• identify ourselves by name on arrival, and produce an identity card

• explain the main purpose of the visit

• be polite and considerate and deal with your tax affairs confidentially

• keep claims on your and your staff’s time to a minimum

• where possible, try to resolve matters during the visit

15.5 How you can help

You can help by:

• advising us as soon as possible about the reasons for any significant changes in the tax or duties you’ve declared or the systems used to calculate the declarations — you should do this by contacting our duty-paid movements team

• keeping your records, declarations and payments up to date

• providing us with the information and explanations we request

• asking us if you are unsure of any matter connected with the duty or tax — we may not look at all aspects of your records and business, so you cannot assume that you are accounting for everything correctly just because no errors are found, so it is in your own interest to ask if you are unsure

• helping us to understand your business and records

• replying to enquiries within the specified time

• quoting your reference number when you contact us

15.6 If you disagree with a decision

If you disagree with a decision, discuss it first with the visiting officer.

If you still disagree, then you should read the review and appeals process in section 16.

16. Review and appeals process

16.1 What if I disagree with an HMRC decision

When we make a decision that you can appeal against we will tell you and offer you a review. We will explain the decision and tell you what you need to do if you disagree.

For example with:

• the amount of an assessment

• the issue of a civil penalty

• a decision specifically connected to duty-paid movements

You’ll usually have 3 options. Within 30 days you can:

• send new information or arguments to the officer you’ve been dealing with

• have your case reviewed by a different officer

• have your case heard by an independent tribunal

A review will be handled by a different officer from the one who made the decision. If you prefer to have an independent tribunal hear your case, you must write directly to the Tribunals Service.

16.2 Time limits

If you want HMRC to review a decision, you must write to the person who issued the decision letter, within 30 days of the date of that letter.

We will complete our review within 45 days, unless we agree another time with you.

You cannot ask the tribunal to hear your case until the 45 days (or the time we agreed with you) has expired, or we have told you the outcome of the review.

If you are not satisfied with the review’s conclusion, you have 30 days within which to ask the tribunal to hear your case.

If we cannot complete our review within 45 days, or any time we agreed with you, we will ask you whether you are willing to agree to an extension so that we can complete the review. If you do not agree to an extension, the review is treated as concluding that the decision being reviewed is upheld.

We will write to tell you this and, you then have 30 days from the date of that letter to ask the tribunal to hear your case.

16.3 What to include in your request for a review

Your request should set out clearly the full details of your case, the reasons why you disagree with HMRC and provide any supporting documentation. You should also state what result you expect from our review.

16.4 If you do not want a review

If you do not want a review you may appeal to the independent tribunal. You need to send your appeal to the Tribunals Service within 30 days of the date on the decision letter.

16.5 More information

Find out more information about:

• how to get a review of an HMRC decision

• what to do if you disagree with an HMRC decision

There’s also information about how to appeal to the Tribunals Service.

17. Contact us

Application or registration queries

Contact the Excise Processing Teams about:

• an application you’ve submitted
• if you need to tell us about any changes
• to request a PTA form (Paid Temporary Authorisation) if you are a temporary certified consignor

Email nru.alcohol@hmrc.gov.uk

Duty-paid movements team

Contact the duty-paid movements team to notify us of any:

• consignments of excise goods
• request a HM4a form (Paid Temporary Consignment request)
• changes to information already given about a consignment

Email address mailbox.noic@hmrc.gov.uk

Telephone: 03000 529510

Duty-paid movements team for Tax Representatives

For changes to information already given about a consignment on your HM4b form relating to distance sales, contact importersteam.commercial@hmrc.gov.uk

General enquiries

Contact excise enquiries helpline if you have a general query.

18. Examples of duty calculation

The way in which excise duty is calculated on alcoholic products has changed. This means you now calculate duty based on litres of pure alcohol for all alcoholic products. You can find examples of duty calculation when you work out how much Alcohol Duty you need to pay.

19. The due diligence condition

19.1 What due diligence is

Due diligence is the appropriate reasonable care a company exercises when entering into business relations or contracts with other companies, and how it responds in a deliberate reflexive manner to trading risks identified.

19.2 Why is a due diligence condition required

Without effective safeguards in place, there are considerable risks to all businesses along alcohol supply chains of becoming implicated in illicit trading.

This condition requires that all excise registered businesses operating in the alcohol sector consider the risk of excise duty evasion as well as any commercial and other risks when they’re trading. Doing so will help to drive illicit trading out of alcohol supply chains, and reduce the risk to businesses of financial liabilities associated with goods on which duty has been evaded.

19.3 What is expected of you

It is a condition of your approval as a registered commercial importer, a certified consignee or consignor (including their temporary version) or tax representative that you must:

• objectively assess the risks of alcohol duty fraud within the supply chains in which you operate
• put in place reasonable and proportionate checks, in your day to day trading, to identify transactions that may lead to fraud or involve goods on which duty may have been evaded
• have procedures in place to take timely and effective mitigating action where a risk of fraud is identified
• document the checks you intend to carry out and have appropriate management governance in place to make sure that these are, and continue to be, carried out as intended

19.4 How to assess the risks in my supply chains

The fraud risks within a supply chain are unique to each business, and objective assessment of the likelihood of your trading activities contributing to fraud is an essential first step to developing effective due diligence procedures. You’ll need to consider the full range of trading relationships you’ve established and the potential for fraud in each.

The main risks within the alcohol sector include:

• involvement in the supply of goods for fraud

• receiving goods that have been smuggled or diverted into Northern Ireland

• inadvertently facilitating fraud by providing import or warehousing services

A key feature of the smuggling or diversion of alcohol to the Northern Ireland market is the ability to source product either where the excise duty has been suspended or it has been refunded under drawback provisions. To assess your exposure to this risk you’ll need to objectively assess if there is potential for duty evasion resulting from your trading activity. You’ll need to know who you are selling to and where the goods are destined for and understand the market for these products. Without this, there is a risk of supplying goods directly or through a third party into illicit supply chains.

Import and warehousing procedures are often exploited to provide cover for the illicit movement of goods. Fraudsters will seek to distribute duty evaded goods as well as counterfeit alcohol into legitimate retail supply chains. To assess your exposure to this risk you’ll need to objectively consider whether the supply chain and trading activity is credible which includes knowing who you source goods from and provide a service to.

High level indicators of risk include goods being received from unusually complex or apparently uneconomic supply routes, for example, regular supplies of UK produced goods that have been shipped out to a member state and then re-imported. If you are sourcing duty-paid goods you’ll also need to consider the credibility of suppliers and the level of evidence you can get to demonstrate the provenance and duty status of goods.

Paragraph 19.9 of this notice provides further detail on risk indicators.

19.5 Checks to carry out

Once you’ve established the main risks of fraud you may be exposed to, your regular checks during trading should be of a type and level sufficient to establish the integrity of the excise transactions and supply chains you are trading in. This level needs to be reasonable and proportionate to the risk.

Depending on the nature of your business and complexity of your transactions, checks will need to be individually tailored. In particular, they must be sufficiently sensitive, yet robust enough, to pick up potential fraud risks. These checks should provide protection from the threat of fraud or you becoming inadvertently involved in fraudulent activity.

As a general rule ‘FITTED’ checks should normally focus on:

• financial health of the company you intend trading with

• identity of the business you intend trading with

• terms of any contracts, payment and credit agreements

• transport details of the movement of the goods involved whether or not you are directly involved in this

• existence or provenance of goods — where goods are said to be duty-paid you should normally seek sufficient detail to satisfy yourself of the status of the goods

• the Deal, understanding the nature of the transaction itself, including:

  • how the cost of the goods is built up, for example, whether it includes appropriate taxes, transport etc

  • why is it being offered

  • whether it is too good to be true

  • how the deal compares to the market generally

Paragraph 19.10 of this notice provides more examples.

19.6 How to respond to a fraud risk in your supply chains

It is expected that your due diligence procedures will provide effective control over the risks of fraud within your supply chains. Where your checks indicated real concerns, we would normally expect aspects of your supply chain to be changed to address this, for example, the supplier or the destination of the goods. However, a decision of whether or not to trade with another party remains a commercial decision for your business to take.

If your checks lead you to suspect duty fraud you should also inform our Customs hotline.

19.7 HMRC reviews

As part of our enforcement and general audit programmes, we will consider whether or not the steps you’ve taken to embed anti-fraud due diligence into your trading activity are sufficient and timely to address fraud risks in your supply chains. We will aim to establish whether you have objectively assessed the risks in your supply chain, and you must be able to demonstrate that you have put in place reasonable and proportionate checks and effective procedures to respond to fraud risks when they arise.

19.8 If your due diligence checks are found to be insufficient

If your due diligence procedures are considered insufficient to address fraud risks, we will carefully consider the facts of the case before taking further action, but where appropriate we will seek to support you to strengthen your procedures.

In more serious cases such as a failure to consider the risks, undertake due diligence checks or respond to clear indications of fraud, we will apply appropriate and proportionate sanctions. For serious non compliance, such as ignoring warnings or knowingly entering into high risk transactions, we may revoke excise approvals and licences.

You are also reminded that handling goods liable to excise duty held outside a duty — suspension arrangement may cause you to become liable for any excise duty due on those goods and an excise wrongdoing penalty. Any of those goods you currently hold could also be liable to forfeiture.

Paragraphs 19.9 and 19.10 of this notice provide further details on risk indicators and outline some of the checks that you may carry out to identify high risk transactions. These are not intended to be prescriptive or exhaustive.

Once you’ve established the most appropriate due diligence tests for your business, these should be used to test both new and existing transactions and supply chains linked to your business. Some checks may be more appropriate to your business than others.

19.9 Examples of due diligence risk indicators

You should be concerned about a prospective transaction where you identify one or more of the following indicators in both suppliers and customers, the presence of which may lead you to make further inquiries. This list is not exhaustive.

Financial health of the company you intend trading with

You should be concerned if:

• there is no, or poor, credit ratings but it is still able to finance substantial deals

• there are high levels of debt

• they’re buying high value goods on extended credit

• they’re a new company with little or no trading history

• there are little or no fixed assets

Identity of the business

You should be concerned if:

• there is a lack of detail about the business’ identity, for example, no address details, or HMRC approval number

• they do not appear to be on Companies House records as originally described

• they’re dealing in high value goods from short term lease accommodation or residential addresses

• there is no general visibility of the company you intend trading with, for example, they do not appear to advertise or have a website

• they’ve returned only partly completed application or trading forms

• if you are a warehousekeeper, receiving duty suspension goods on behalf of a third party who is not WOWGR registered where they would otherwise be required to be registered

Terms of contract, payment and credit agreements

You should be concerned if:

• there is an insistence on dealing in cash, especially where the deal is a high value one

• cash payments are made using money couriers

• offers of credit appear to be outside normal business practice. Payment terms are normally 21, 31 or 45 days but high-risk transactions may have short payment terms, for example, 48 hours

• you are asked to make payment to an account or person which does not appear to be linked to the seller, or other unusual payment arrangements requested by the seller. The same applies to customers

• a valid pro-forma or purchase invoice is not or will not be provided

• the circumstances of the trading arrangement seem false or contrived. For example, a supplier provides you with the details of a customer for the goods he is selling to you, or offers you a contract with no financial loss to you

Transport

The goods are to be received from an unusual source or supply route, for example, UK produced goods are sourced from another country and directly compete with those from a more direct supply route.

Existence or provenance of goods

You should be concerned if:

• the goods are claimed to be duty-paid but your supplier (or person on whose behalf you are storing the goods) cannot provide reasonable evidence of duty payment to support the status of the goods — for further detail about what constitutes evidence of duty payment refer to Excise duty drawback (Excise Notice 207)

• individuals in the company have little knowledge of your trade sector

• where samples are provided or the goods have been received:
  • for spirits there is no duty stamp in circumstances where there should be one or the duty stamp does not fluoresce (refer to guidance)
  • the goods appear counterfeit, in that, the quality of labels and or packaging is poor when compared to the genuine article
  • the supporting paperwork seems false
  • the goods are older than supporting evidence (such as documents demonstrating duty payment) suggest, for example, the best before dates indicate an earlier production date whereas documentation gives the impression you were buying newer stock
• the company has only been trading for a very short period of time but has managed to achieve a large income in that short period of time

The Deal

You should be concerned if:

• customer demand for specific brands in other countries exceeds expected levels of consumption there

• the goods are to be moved in an unusual supply route that in itself would add significant logistic costs and bring into question the economics of that trade (unless duty was to be evaded)

• supplies are offered through unsolicited emails or flyers received out of the blue

• goods are offered at incredibly low prices which seem too good to be true

• free gifts of similar or other excise goods not fully documented and in themselves would place a question over the deal as a whole

• there are other incentives such as contingency discounts which overall make the deal sound too good to be true

19.10 Examples of due diligence checks

Financial health

You should:

• obtain, undertake credit checks or other background checks on the business you intend trading with

• where a poor credit rating is identified, establish how the transactions will be funded, what security can be offered that you’ll be paid

• where credit is offered by the business, know who is providing the credit facility

• know what payment terms are offered and are they commercially viable

Identity

You should:

• check company details provided to you against other sources, for example website, letterheads, telephone directories

• ask whether your customer or supplier is a member of a relevant trade association

• get copies of certificates of incorporation, VAT registration certificates and excise registration certificates where appropriate and where a trade class is quoted on these, check whether or not it relates to the type of trade you are engaging in

• verify VAT and excise registration details with HMRC (we recommend that these checks are undertaken regularly for new trading arrangements and proportionately longer for trusted ones, unless you suspect a problem)

• if you are a warehousekeeper receiving duty-suspended goods into your warehouse, be satisfied that the owner of the goods is registered under WOWGR where required

• get signed letters of introduction on headed letter paper and references from other customers or suppliers

• insist on personal contact with a senior official of the prospective supplier and where necessary, make an initial visit to their premises — use this opportunity to confirm the identity of the person you intend doing business with and keep a record of your meeting

• establish what your customer’s or supplier’s history in the trade is and do they have evidence of this

• get the prospective customer’s or supplier’s bank details — in the case of an import or export, does the supplier or recipient share the same country of residence as their bank

• establish who you’ll be paying — is this the same company as the one you are directly dealing with

• if you are providing a service, know who will be paying for it

Terms of any contracts, payments and credit agreements

You should:

• carefully consider the terms of any contracts and credit agreements before entering into these and challenge elements which appear unusual

• know what recourse is there if the goods are not as described

• if payment is to be made to or from a third party, know if there is a sound commercial reason for this

• if payment is to be made to or from a third party, know if it is to or from an off shore account

• know if there are normal commercial arrangements in place for the financing of the goods

• where payment is made from an overseas business, know how it is to be made

• ask yourself has your supplier referred you to a customer who is willing to buy goods of the same quantity and brand as being offered by the supplier

• ask yourself if your supplier offers deals that carry no commercial risk for you, for example, no requirement to pay for goods until the payment is received

• ask yourself if the goods adequately insured

• ask yourself if high value deals are offered with no formal contractual arrangements

• where you are buying from a broker, ask yourself:
  • what overall value does this link in the supply chain add
  • is it possible to source more directly
  • how competitive is the broker’s pricing to those from a more direct route
  • how are the savings made in a longer supply chain to make it viable
• where transactions are being financed by a third party, ask yourself if this person is a regulated financial body such as a bank

Transport

You should:

• establish where the goods will be sourced from, asking yourself:
  • if this is the country of production
  • if it is not the country of production, why the goods are being routed in this way
• know who is responsible for the transport, asking yourself:
  • if the cost of the goods is inclusive of transport
  • if the cost is inclusive of transport, does this mean that the potential logistical costs make the unit price unrealistic
• make sure the details of delivery vehicles are retained and if necessary any variations to expected transport arrangements are recorded

Existence or provenance

You should check:

• how the trader has contacted you

• if the goods exist

• if you can inspect the goods before purchasing them

• if they are in good condition and not damaged

• if the quantities on offer seem credible for the type of business you intend trading with

• where goods are said to be duty-paid, seek sufficient detail to satisfy yourself that they are, this will be easier the closer you are in the supply chain to production — this point is also important where you intend holding goods on behalf of a third party

The Deal

You should consider the nature of the transaction, including:

• if it looks too good to be true

• if the demand for the type of alcohol is credible — if the demand is purportedly from abroad what is the real market (consumption) for them in that country

• if the alcohol has come from abroad but is of UK origin, how did this occur and why

• where incentives are offered, when these are taken into consideration if this makes the overall deal seem too good to be true

• why it is being offered

• if normal commercial practices have been adopted in negotiating prices

• if the price competes with that offered by competitors

• the age of the goods — if the stock is old you should seek an explanation as to its provenance

• if the price seems realistic — you should be aware of unit cost when duty and VAT values are removed

• if you are already established in a trading agreement we would also recommend that you continue to monitor correspondence and business paperwork to identify changes in those arrangements and take any follow up action as necessary

Glossary

Term	Definition
Certified consignee	A trader who, from 13 February 2023, is able to import goods into Northern Ireland which are already duty-paid in an EU member state without having to provide payment of the UK duty before the goods are dispatched. Instead, they’re authorised to defer payment of the duty using their own or someone else’s duty deferment account and make the necessary payment by submitting a return at the end of each accounting period. Security is provided by the deferment guarantee.
Certified consignor	A trader who, from 13 February 2023, is able to export goods from Northern Ireland to an EU member state which are already UK duty-paid.
Distance selling/sales	The sale of excise goods by a vendor in one EU member state to a private individual in another member state. For example, this could be sales over the internet.
Duty-paid goods	For the purposes of this notice, goods released for consumption that is, goods on which relevant duties, including excise duty, has been paid in the country of dispatch. Such goods are normally available for purchase from cash and carries, supermarkets and wholesalers in the country of dispatch.
Duty Stamp	A stamp attached to alcoholic products, with an ABV of 30% or above in bottle sizes of 35cl or above to indicate that UK duty has been or will be paid.
Established	For the purpose of this notice, you are established in Northern Ireland if you have a permanent business establishment in Northern Ireland.
Excise duty	For the purpose of this notice, an indirect tax on certain goods, for example, beer, wine, other fermented products (previously known as made-wine), cider, spirits, mineral oil, cigarettes and other tobacco products. Both UK-produced and imported goods are subject to excise duty.
Excise goods	Goods which are liable to excise duty.
Fiscal mark	In the context of this notice, a mark carried on packets of cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco indicating that tobacco products duty has been paid.
Registered commercial importer	A trader who is able to import goods into Northern Ireland which are already duty-paid in an EU member state without having to provide payment of the UK duty before the goods are dispatched. Instead they’re authorised to defer payment of the duty using their own or someone else’s duty deferment account and make the necessary payment by submitting a return at the end of each accounting period. Security is provided by the deferment guarantee.
Released for consumption	For the purposes of this notice, ‘released for consumption’ means goods on which relevant duties, including excise duty, has been paid in the country of dispatch. Such goods are referred to as ‘duty-paid’ goods throughout this notice.
Supplier	In the context of this notice a person who supplies duty-paid excise goods.
Tariff	The short title for the Integrated Tariff of the UK which sets out information about: the valuation of goods for import duty purposes, including excise and VAT duties measures affecting the import, export and transit of goods.
Tax representative	A trader who is approved and authorised to account for excise duty on distance sales on behalf of vendors in EU member states.
Temporary certified consignee	A trader who, from 13 February 2023, is able to import goods into Northern Ireland which are already duty-paid in an EU member state. Their registration is limited to a single movement of a specified quantity of goods from a single consignor in a specified time period. They must secure the UK duty prior to the goods being dispatched.
Temporary certified consignor	A trader who, from 13 February 2023, is able to export goods from Northern Ireland to an EU member state which are already UK duty-paid. Their registration is limited to a single movement of a specified quantity of goods to a single consignee in a specified time period.
Unregistered commercial importer	A trader who uses the standard scheme to import goods into Northern Ireland which are already duty-paid in an EU member state. They must secure the UK duty prior to the goods being dispatched.

Your rights and obligations

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Comments on this notice

If you have any feedback about this notice, you can write to:

Excise policy
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