Check if you can claim a waiver for goods brought into Northern Ireland
You may be able to claim a waiver for goods brought into Northern Ireland so that you do not have to pay duty on those goods.
Applies to Northern Ireland
To claim a waiver so you do not have to pay duty on goods you bring into Northern Ireland from Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) or countries outside the UK and EU, you’ll need to check:
- non-customs de minimis state aid you’ve received outside of the customs duty waiver scheme
- de minimis state aid you’ve received as part of the customs duty waiver scheme
De minimis state aid could include subsidised contracts, loans or grants from organisations like Invest NI and NI Direct.
If you do not have experience in customs or would like to find out more information, the Trader Support Service can support you with this process.
Who can claim
You can claim as a business as part of a ‘single undertaking’.
Your de minimis state aid allowance applies to all parts of your organisation involved in bringing goods into Northern Ireland from Great Britain or from outside the EU. This may include more than one business. This group of businesses is known as the ‘undertaking’. An undertaking could be a sole trader, a company, a partnership, or any combination of these.
If you are a sole trader, you still need to create a single undertaking if you wish to claim a Customs Duty waiver. If there is more than one business within the undertaking, you’ll need to decide which business will be the undertaking administrator (lead). The undertaking administrator is responsible for managing the online account and reporting non-customs de minimis state aid you’ve received outside of the customs duty waiver scheme.
When you can claim
You can claim a waiver for duty on goods which might otherwise be charged ‘at risk’ tariffs if you:
- have not exceeded the allowances at the point your import declaration is submitted
- will not exceed the allowance for your sector by making a claim
You can claim for goods you bring into:
- Northern Ireland from Great Britain
- Northern Ireland from countries outside of the UK and the EU — in this case, you claim a waiver for the difference between the UK and the EU tariff
Checking you’re within your allowance
You should check you’re within the de minimis allowance for your sector.
Your allowance includes all de minimis state aid you have claimed during the current tax year and previous 2 tax years from all UK public authorities, including central and local government.
De minimis state aid could include subsidised contracts, loans or grants. If you are unsure if an aid you claim is counted as de minimis state aid you should contact the provider.
By claiming a waiver for Customs Duty, you are making a legal declaration that your claim will not result in you exceeding the allowance for your sector.
A business is eligible to claim a waiver for duty because the amount of de minimis state aid they received is below the sector allowance.
An example of when a business is eligible to claim a waiver
Claim year — 2023 to 2024 (for example, they claim on 30 March 2024).
Sector — industrial
De minimis state aid 2021 to 2022 = 1,000 euros
De minimis state aid 2022 to 2023 = 1,200 euros
De minimis state aid 2023 to 2024 = 5,739 euros (this includes £4,000 of waivers for Customs Duty, converted into euros)
Total de minimis state aid = 7,939 euros
Allowance for industrial sector = 300,000 euros
This is under the 300,000 euros allowance.
A business is not eligible to claim a waiver for duty as the amount of de minimis state aid they have received is above the sector allowance.
An example of when a business is not eligible to claim a waiver
Claim year — 2023 to 2024 (for example, they claim on 10 February 2024)
Sector — industrial
De minimis state aid 2021 to 2022 = 1,200 euros
De minimis state aid 2022 to 2023 = 190,739 euros (this includes £4,000 of waivers for Customs Duty, converted into euros)
De minimis state aid 2023 to 2024 = 110,439 euros (this includes £4,000 of waivers for Customs Duty, converted into euros)
Total de minimis state aid = 302,378 euros
Allowance for industrial sector = 300,000 euros
This is above the 300,000 euros allowance.
Before you claim
You must subscribe to HMRC’s online service so that you can register your undertaking.
To subscribe, you’ll need to:
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Get an Economic Operators Registration and Identification number (EORI number), unless you already have one. You’ll also need the EORI number of any other business in your undertaking. If you do not have an EORI number, the online service will take you through the process of getting one.
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Give HMRC your company email address. You’ll need to do this for verification purposes.
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Have a Government Gateway user ID and password. If you do not have a user ID, you can create one the first time you subscribe.
The EORI number must be the one linked to the Government Gateway user ID you used when you got an EORI number.
Registering a single undertaking
After subscribing to the online service, you’ll need to register your undertaking. This will make the EORI number you subscribed with the undertaking administrator.
You’ll need to tell us which industry sector your undertaking is involved in.
After registering, you’ll need to add details of the businesses within your undertaking to your account. You’ll then be given an account reference number.
If you are in a VAT group, you should add all the businesses that are in that VAT group to your undertaking.
To do this you’ll need the following details for each business:
- EORI number
- contact details
The undertaking administrator must use the online service to tell HMRC about changes to any of the businesses within the undertaking.
Making a claim
You can make a claim on your import declaration.
You can make a claim where you have paid EU duty on ‘at risk’ goods in the past 3 years.
You can also make a claim where you have underpaid EU duty on ‘at risk’ goods to cover the outstanding EU duty.
Find out how to claim a waiver.
Related guidance
Find out about the other ways to bring your goods into Northern Ireland from Great Britain without paying duty.
Last updated 5 January 2024 + show all updates
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The dates when a business is both eligible and not eligible to claim a waiver have been updated.
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The dates when a business is eligible to claim a waiver have been updated. The total de minimis state aid when a business is not eligible to claim a waiver has also been updated.
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The Customs Duty waiver limits have been updated.
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First published.