Guidance

Apply for an account to defer duty payments when you import or release goods into Great Britain

Find out how to apply for a duty deferment account so you can delay paying most customs or tax charges when you import goods into Great Britain or release goods from an excise warehouse.

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

If you need a duty deferment account for Northern Ireland, find out how to set up an account to defer duty payments when you import goods.

If you import goods regularly, you can apply for a duty deferment account to delay paying most customs or tax charges, for example:

  • Customs Duty
  • excise duties
  • import VAT

You can also apply to delay paying duties on goods released from an excise warehouse.

A duty deferment account lets the importer (or someone who represents them) make one payment a month through Direct Debit instead of paying for individual consignments.

If you鈥檙e registered for VAT and your business imports goods, you can account for your import VAT on your VAT Return instead of paying the VAT by duty deferment.

Who can apply

Anyone can apply for a duty deferment account to pay import duties in Great Britain.

Before you apply

You can apply for a guarantee waiver approval with your duty deferment account application. Find out about guarantee waivers. You (or the business you鈥檙e acting on behalf of) must be established in the UK for customs to be eligible for a guarantee waiver.

To complete your application you鈥檒l need your business鈥檚:

  • EORI number
  • name associated with your EORI number
  • registered company number (if this applies), in the UK this will be from Companies House
  • UK address associated with your EORI number
  • correspondence address
  • VAT number (if this applies)
  • company directors鈥� and officials鈥� details, including date of birth
  • person responsible for customs authorisations, their details and practical customs experience
  • estimated debt

If you apply for a guarantee waiver you may also need:

  • records of any times when your business has not followed customs or tax rules in the last 3 years
  • financial records

Apply to defer Customs Duty, excise duty and import VAT

You (or the business you鈥檙e acting on behalf of) must be established in the UK for customs to be eligible for a guarantee waiver. You must guarantee deferment of payment to HMRC.

If you want to defer Customs Duty, excise duty and import VAT you must follow these steps.

  1. Decide if you want to reduce financial guarantees by using a duty deferment account guarantee waiver approval or authorised economic operators for customs.

  2. Have a Government Gateway user ID and password. If you do not have a user ID, you can create one the first time you apply.

  3. .

If you鈥檙e not applying for, or have not received a guarantee waiver approval, you鈥檒l need to provide a guarantee from a financial institution that鈥檚 both:

  • established in the UK
  • regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA)

.

You should not submit a guarantee unless we ask you to provide one after you have applied for a duty deferment account.

If you鈥檙e applying to defer excise duty

This application applies to any excise duty deferred at importation or released from an excise warehouse.

You can also still use the excise payment security system for duty deferment that is not part of importation or releasing goods from an excise warehouse.

If you鈥檙e applying to defer import VAT

You can apply to defer import VAT if you鈥檙e a trader who is either:

  • not VAT registered
  • VAT-registered and not accounting for VAT on your VAT Return

You do not need to apply for a deferment account to defer import VAT if you鈥檙e using postponed VAT accounting for imports.

If you鈥檙e applying for a guarantee waiver of up to 拢10,000 per month

You鈥檒l need to tell HMRC more information about your finances if you:

  • do not file accounts at Companies House (for example, if you are a sole trader or a general partnership)
  • file consolidated accounts at Companies House

Authorised economic operators for customs do not need to upload a PFS1 form.

If you鈥檙e applying for a guarantee waiver of over 拢10,000 per month

You鈥檒l need to provide additional information about your finances using the PFS1 form and provide supporting documents with your application.

Authorised economic operators for customs do not need to upload a PFS1.

Find out more about the supporting documents you need to provide when you tell HMRC more information about your finances.

After you鈥檝e applied

If your application is approved

When we have all the information to process your application, we鈥檒l aim to complete this within 30 working days. If you need to apply for a financial guarantee, this may take longer.

If your application is approved you鈥檒l get a deferment approval number. You鈥檒l need to use this聽to fill in your Direct Debit Instruction.

You鈥檒l need to provide your Direct Debit Instruction to make the account active even if you鈥檙e not actually intending to use your duty deferment account immediately.

If the amount of your deferral limit is more than your guarantee waiver

If there鈥檚 a gap between your requested deferral limit and the amount of guarantee waiver you qualify for, we鈥檒l advise you of your options to:

If we do not get a reply from you in 30 days, we may reject your application.

If your application is rejected

If your application is rejected we鈥檒l inform you of your right to request a review or appeal the decision.

Authorising someone to use your deferment approval number

You can set up or view an authority on the Customs Declaration Service.

Cancel or amend your account

Find out how you can cancel or amend your account by using an online form.

Get more information

Find out more information about how to use your duty deferment account.

Updates to this page

Published 29 October 2020
Last updated 31 March 2025 show all updates
  1. The 'After you've applied' section has been updated to clarify what happens when your application has been approved.

  2. References to Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) have been removed as this service is no longer available.

  3. Guidance has been updated when applying for a guarantee waiver of up to 拢10,000 per month, you will need to tell HMRC more information about your finances if you do not file accounts at Companies House (for example, if you are a sole trader or a general partnership).

  4. You can also amend a standing authority if you use the Customs Declaration Service.

  5. Guidance has been updated to include information about applying for a duty deferment account in Great Britain if you are established outside of the UK.

  6. The 'Finance dashboard duty deferment account statements' section has been added.

  7. This page has been updated with a new address for sending amendments or cancelling your duty deferment account application.

  8. First published.

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