Guidance

Making an import supplementary declaration

Find out how and when to make a supplementary declaration when using simplified declarations to bring goods into the UK.

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

Who can submit

If you moved goods that are not controlled or excise goods into Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) and you declared them by entering them in your records without getting authorisation in advance, you may be able to make supplementary declarations up to 175 days after the date the goods were imported 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 must contact us if you chose to delay making a declaration and have not yet made a supplementary declaration for goods you brought into Great Britain from: 

  • the EU (not including Ireland) from 1 January 2021 up to and including 31 December 2021 
  • Northern Ireland or Ireland from 1 January 2021 up to and including 30 January 2024 

You must tell us about late declarations as soon as possible. If you tell us about declarations not submitted on time, we can help you get it right in future.

When to submit

A supplementary declaration is not needed when your goods are being declared to customs warehousing.

You can submit your supplementary declaration once either:

You must submit your supplementary declaration by the following deadlines.

If you brought goods into Great Britain

Your supplementary declaration must be sent and accepted by the fourth working day of the following month.

If you brought goods into Northern Ireland

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

You can continue to submit your supplementary declaration by the fourth working day of the following month.

How to submit

You can submit your declaration electronically to HMRC.

Your 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:

  • 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 boxes you need to complete on your declaration using the Customs Declaration Service.

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

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

After you submit

When your supplementary declaration is accepted, we will send a customs response message giving a calculation of what you owe. Payment will be taken from your deferment account on the 15th 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 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.

Published 5 November 2019
Last updated 14 September 2023 + show all updates
  1. Added information to show arrangements for movements from Ireland and in some cases Northern Ireland and Great Britain are changing from 31 January 2024.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

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

  5. 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.

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

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

  8. 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.

  9. First published.