Guides

The guides answer the questions an importer asks.

Law as at 13 September 2026.

Each guide answers one question from the Act, the instruments and the incorporated document, names HMRC guidance as guidance, and ends with a source status block giving the law it rests on and the date it was last reviewed.

Tools

• Registration threshold calculator

  The calculator applies the two tests in paragraph 2 of Schedule 17 to the values you enter.

• Worked example

  One consignment runs from the invoice to the tax due, on the default, verified and mixed routes.

• Commodity code checker

  The checker reads an eight-digit code against Schedule 16.

Guides

• What importers need to know for 2027

  The guide covers the start date, the five sectors, who is liable, the £50,000 threshold, the records and the first return.

• Who is the importer

  The guide covers agents, group companies, delivered-duty-paid sales and special customs procedures.

• Dates and deadlines, 2026 to 2028

  The guide sets out every date in an instrument, from 1 January 2027 to the first quarterly returns of 2028.

• Actual emissions or default values

  The guide says what a default value is, what the actual data route demands, and why a return on a default value is final.

• Records

  The guide lists every record an importer must keep, from the five facts for every consignment to the relief file.

• Verification

  The guide covers who may verify, the accreditation, the independence rule, the report and the six-line test.

• Carbon price relief

  The guide covers the qualifying schemes, form CarbonVP1, the five steps to the effective carbon price and the cap.

• Goods outside the charge

  The guide covers UK-origin goods, returned goods, UK-origin precursors, temporary admission and special procedures.

• For the producer outside the United Kingdom

  The guide tells a supplier abroad what its UK customer needs, by when, and why an EU report is not a substitute.

• Northern Ireland

  The guide covers the routes of importation into and from Northern Ireland and who the importer is on each.

• Penalties, assessments and appeals

  The guide covers the six penalties, the assessment powers, the offences and the review and appeal route.