Guidance

Making an import supplementary declaration

How and when to make a supplementary declaration when using simplified declarations for imports to bring goods into the UK.

• From: HM Revenue & Customs
• Published: 5 November 2019
• Last updated: 17 April 2024
  Show all updates

  1. 17 April 2024

     Information about when to send supplementary declarations and when HMRC will take payment from your deferment account has been updated.

  2. 14 September 2023

     Added information to show arrangements for movements from Ireland and in some cases Northern Ireland and Great Britain are changing from 31 January 2024.

  3. 31 January 2023

     You have until the 10th calendar day of the following month to submit your supplementary declaration if you import goods into Northern Ireland. You can continue to submit your supplementary declaration by the 4th working day if you prefer.

  4. 1 October 2022

     Information about Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) has been removed. You can no longer use CHIEF for import declarations unless you have permission from HMRC.

  5. 22 August 2022

     A link to guidance on how to amend or cancel a declaration has been added.

  6. 1 July 2022

     If you brought goods into Great Britain from the EU between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2021, you must contact HMRC if you chose to delay making a declaration for those goods by up to 175 days and you have not yet made a supplementary declaration for those goods.

  7. 7 January 2022

     Updated the guidance for controlled goods imported into Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) from Ireland.

  8. 31 December 2020

     This page has been updated because the Brexit transition period has ended.

  9. 10 July 2020

     If you’re importing standard goods into Great Britain from the EU between 1 January and 30 June 2021, you can use ‘entry in the declarant’s records’ without getting authorisation in advance and make a supplementary declaration 6 months later.

  10. 5 November 2019

      First published.

You need to make a supplementary declaration after you’ve made either:

• an import declaration in your own records
• a simplified frontier declaration

Who can submit

If you move goods into Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales), you may be able to declare them without getting authorisation in advance. You can do this by entering them in your own records and making supplementary declarations. You can do this up to 175 days after the date you imported the goods.

This applies if you brought goods: 

• from free circulation in Ireland (including goods that started their movement in Northern Ireland) into free circulation in Great Britain, on or before 30 January 2024 
• that need to be declared from Northern Ireland (including goods that started their movement in Ireland) into free circulation in Great Britain, on or before 30 January 2024

You’ll not be able to do this for controlled or excise goods. 

When to submit

You’ll not need to submit a supplementary declaration when your goods are being declared to customs warehousing.

You can submit your supplementary declaration after any of the following:

• your simplified frontier declaration has been accepted
• your C21 (customs clearance request) has been accepted
• you’ve declared your goods by entering them in your own records

Your supplementary declaration must then be sent and accepted by the 10th calendar day of the following month.

How to submit

You can submit your supplementary declaration electronically to HMRC.

Your supplementary declaration will need to include the:

• customs procedure code
• commodity code
• declaration unique consignment reference (DUCR), which is the main reference number that links declarations

You also need to give the:

• names of the consignee and consignor
• type, amount and packaging of your goods
• transport methods and costs
• currencies and valuation methods
• certificates and licences

You must check which data elements you need to complete on your declaration, using the Customs Declaration Service.

You can submit supplementary declarations individually or in batches. You can also submit more than one supplementary declaration for a single, simplified declaration for imports.

You can submit fewer supplementary declarations by combining those with the same header and item level data into a single supplementary declaration. This is called aggregation. You must get approval from your authorising customs officer before you do this.

After you submit

When we accept your supplementary declaration, we’ll send you a customs response message, giving a calculation of what you owe. We’ll take payment from your deferment account on the 16th calendar day of the following month.

You also need to submit a final supplementary declaration.

We may ask you to send supporting documents for a customs check to clear your goods. Find out about clearing goods entering, leaving or transiting the UK.

Find out what to do if you have missed the deadline for submitting your supplementary declaration.

Amend or cancel a supplementary declaration

Find out what to do if you need to amend or cancel a declaration.

If you do not pay the right amount

Find out what to do if you underpay import or export duties and who is responsible for the debt.

If you have overpaid Customs Duty, you can apply for a refund. Find out about refunds and waivers on customs debt by HMRC.