- Original Poster
- #1
Hi, I apologise if this has been posted before but I did have a trawl through and couldn't see anything.
I have a sole-trader VAT registered business (not ltd) which imports maybe a dozen shipments a year from the EU. I don't import from anywhere else. I have already successfully brought in 4 this year - one was fairly (for me) pricey and the delivery company contacted me, I paid the charges, I got the form from HMRC - no problem. The others have all been small and I have had no contact by courier or customs and received all the goods. The cost of shipping has doubled but that is not a big surprise as the senders are also micro businesses and the paperwork is onerous for them.
I now have a small package in transit - its worth about £220, weighs under 4kgs, nothing is restricted or needs any additional certification and I have been contacted by a company asking me to fill in a CRA (Customs Representation Authority). I have double-checked that it is genuine and apparently it is.
It seems to come with a bucketload of potential charges that will come close to half the value of the shipment. I haven't needed to do this before, my question is, do I need to do it now? There is an option to just supply the EORI and 'do the customs clearance' myself but what does that actually mean?
I have a sole-trader VAT registered business (not ltd) which imports maybe a dozen shipments a year from the EU. I don't import from anywhere else. I have already successfully brought in 4 this year - one was fairly (for me) pricey and the delivery company contacted me, I paid the charges, I got the form from HMRC - no problem. The others have all been small and I have had no contact by courier or customs and received all the goods. The cost of shipping has doubled but that is not a big surprise as the senders are also micro businesses and the paperwork is onerous for them.
I now have a small package in transit - its worth about £220, weighs under 4kgs, nothing is restricted or needs any additional certification and I have been contacted by a company asking me to fill in a CRA (Customs Representation Authority). I have double-checked that it is genuine and apparently it is.
It seems to come with a bucketload of potential charges that will come close to half the value of the shipment. I haven't needed to do this before, my question is, do I need to do it now? There is an option to just supply the EORI and 'do the customs clearance' myself but what does that actually mean?
