Maintain your import records

HMRC can ask to see your import records to check that you declared goods correctly and paid the right duty and VAT. You must keep and preserve them, and you must keep them in a way that shows which customs declaration each one relates to.

What you must keep

• Your customs declarations, or the data from them.
• Orders, commercial invoices, delivery notes, and credit and debit notes.
• Transport documents, such as bills of lading, air or sea waybills and consignment notes.
• Proof of origin, if you claimed a reduced rate of duty.
• For controlled goods such as firearms, paperwork showing who owns them.
• Your ledgers, accounts and stock records, which show what you bought and sold.
• Evidence of the import VAT you paid or postponed: a C79 certificate or a postponed import VAT statement.

How long you must keep them

If storing six years of records causes serious problems or undue expense, HMRC may let you keep some for less time, but only if you ask first.

What you must download each month

Keep the C79 in its original form.

Get your declaration data

If you need a copy of a declaration, including one made by your agent, the customs data report service gives you import item, import header, import tax lines and export item reports from the Customs Declaration Service. Each report covers up to 31 days, starting on any date in the last 4 years, and takes up to 72 hours to prepare. You download it as a CSV file.

Sign in with the Government Gateway user ID linked to your EORI number. An agent's ID will not work, so if your agent needs reports, give them access to your account within the service.

How you must store records

If you do not keep them

Failing to keep or preserve records is a customs contravention. Repeated poor record keeping, or false declarations, can lead to larger evasion penalties.