Temporary Admission customs technical handbook

Customs debt

Provides information on customs debt and calculation of customs debt.

If goods imported to Temporary Admission no longer meet the conditions for the procedure, import duties may become payable.

Customs debt after goods have been placed under customs supervision

If the goods placed under customs supervision are diverted from Temporary Admission, duty is owed.  

The debt will be incurred at the moment when the goods are removed from customs supervision, or at the moment when an obligation or condition under Temporary Admission rules are not met.  

An example of diversion is if an authorisation holder imports goods under Temporary Admission, but they then sell the goods instead of using them for the intended purpose. They will then owe customs duty.

Calculation of customs debt

The amount of duty to be paid is calculated in accordance with the taxation (cross-border trade) act 2018 - incurring of liability to import duty. It is based on the value of the goods when they were imported.