Advice on claiming back Duty

[LuckyNo8]

Hi all,

We are trying to work out if there is a way to claim back duties on items we've imported and then subsequently re-exported.

In general we order say 100 each of 20 different skus. Out of that, say roughly 20% will end up being exported to foreign shops (we are a B2B business). Exactly what sku/quantity combination makes up the 20% we don't know.

I can show we paid duty on import, the export paperwork etc etc. The issue is how we claim? IPR appears to target whole imports, or a percentage of imports (we can't specify as we aren't sure what will sell). Duty drawback appears to only apply to alcohol and tabacco.

I have seen form c285, but this doesn't appear to have a strict set of guidelines we can use to claim.

Can anyone offer any advice/insight on how best to proceed?

Thanks

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

1 - where are you customers - EU?
2 - what did HMRC say when you called them?

 

[LuckyNo8]

Thanks for the reply.

1. The customers I am referring to (20%) are non EU.

2. HMRC said:

Short version - you're pretty much stuffed, but you can try c285.

Long version - according to the person I spoke to, IPR is only for goods imported with the specific purpose of being re-exported. It's not intended for people who import something, and then happen to sell it to someone in a non-EU country. When pushed on this (after all, what if 40% of my sales are foreign), he said "if everyone claimed for every item they'd paid duty on and subsequently exported, we'd have no money left". He also said I should check out form c285 which I have done, but was unable to offer a set of strict criteria (ie: boxes I mentally know to tick to get a refund).

 

[dantheman]

Maybe you should look at IPR drawback rather than suspension.

 

[LuckyNo8]

Hi there,

Thanks for the reply.

I have looked at drawback, but even with drawback, you still have to specify on import what skus you will be drawing back for, and allocate a percentage for each (or just spec the whole consignment).

I think I will have to try c285 and see what comes of it. It'll probably be one of those issues where they'll say no, no, no, yes. Ugh.

Will post back if "no" remains as "no" after the usual to-ing and fro-ing.

Thanks!