I have a customer who has a fault on a product we sold them and am arranging to send them a replacement. I am going to ask them to ship the faulty item back to the UK but need to know how I handle this return with regards to UK import duty.
Sam, as long as you can provide evidence of export for the faulty goods you will not pay duty/VAT on their return.
When the goods are being returned have your customer clause the return paperwork, Bill of lading / invoice "Goods of UK origin, being returned to supplier as faulty" when you come to clear the goods on arrival into the UK, you should submit a copy of the original export Bill of Lading / AWB and copy of the export entry that the goods were originally sent out on as proof of the original export. This should allow for the return goods to be entered in to the UK free of Import VAT & Duty. If you want me to assist with the import clearance / shipping the goods back, please do not hesitate to contact me on dplayfoot@rochardshipping.co.uk or 01932 565225.
Hi – the other responses are correct. The procedure you will be using is Returned Goods Relief (RGR) and you will need to be able to link the original export to the returned items. An alternative would be Inward Processing relief with replacements approved but this won’t answer your requirement quickly enough. Ensure you retain the original export paperwork with the import paperwork as this is the type of import HMRC audit.