VAT – Imports
HMRC have updated the VAT ‘Notice 702 – Imports’. This details how goods imported from outside the EC are treated for VAT purposes. Intra-EC movements of goods are referred to as acquisitions and are not the subject of this document.
The notice, revised for the first time since 2006, contains updated addresses, legislative references and the new countries which have since joined the EC. The notice also reminds businesses which are importing goods that, since 1 July 2009, they are required to have an Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) number.
Where goods are imported from outside the EU, the VAT that is collected by HMRC is known as import VAT and must be paid outright at the time the goods enter free circulation in the UK, unless there are special arrangements in place to defer the VAT payable (using the Simplified Import VAT Accounting scheme – SIVA).
The revised notice also covers the following:
- General rules for importing goods
- Valuation of imported goods
- Import entry procedure
- Reliefs from import VAT
- Unregistered importers
- Import VAT certificates
- 5% VAT rate for imports