Making payments of Customs Duty, excise duties and VAT
Published 29 May 2025
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Description of duty deferment accounts authorisation
Duty deferment accounts are a way of paying customs, excise and VAT duties to HMRC using a bank account.
If you have a duty deferment account, you can pay your customs duties after the goods you imported are released to the market.
If you have Authorised Economic Operator status, you may claim a reduction against the requirement to hold a customs guarantee.
As the rules are different for Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) to those for Northern Ireland, you’ll need separate duty deferment accounts for each of these.
A guarantee, provided by a financial institution, may be needed to use a duty deferment account. This is so that any debts will be paid if you are unable to pay them yourself.
If you use a duty deferment account in Great Britain, you can apply to get a full guarantee waiver.
If you use a duty deferment account in Northern Ireland, you’ll need to get a customs comprehensive guarantee. You may be able to reduce the guarantee amount using waivers available under EU rules. There is a maximum 70% reduction.
If you’re not established in the UK, you can have a duty deferment account but you must provide a full guarantee.
Benefits and features of duty deferment accounts authorisation
Duty deferment accounts provide a way for you to pay your Customs Duty, excise duties, anti-dumping duty, countervailing duty and VAT to HMRC.
They allow you to delay payment of customs charges such as import VAT, Customs Duty and excise duty until the 16th day of the following month. This can help you with cashflow.