INCHP02080 - General: waiver of Customs Duty and VAT on Low Value Bulking consignments
Source: gov.uk (2025-11-24)


This manual will be archived on 15 December 2025. If there is content within this manual you use regularly, email xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx) to let us know.

Note: This manual is under review following Brexit and is likely to be withdrawn. If there is anything within this manual you use regularly, please email xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx) to let us know. Please check the other guidance available on GOV.UK from HMRC.

Duty and Import VAT may be waived on consignments of an intrinsic value not exceeding £15 (excluding freight and other charges) use either CPC 40 00 003 or 49 00 003, if the intrinsic value is between £15 and £135 use either CPC 40 00 005 or 49 00 005, Customs duty can be waived, but import VAT is still payable. The relevant Customs Procedure Codes (CPC) to be used are either 40 00 C07 for non-EU imports and 49 00 C07 for goods from the Special Territories of the EU.

Consignments of Negligible Value (an import entry is required)

Article 23 of Council Regulation 1186/2009

Subject to Article 28, any consignment made up of goods of negligible value dispatched directly from a third country private individual to another private individual in the Union shall be admitted free of import duties. 'Goods of negligible value' means goods where the *intrinsic value of which does not exceed a total of EUR 150 per consignment.

*consignments of an intrinsic value (ie excluding freight, insurance etc charges) in excess of £15 but not exceeding £135, liable to Import VAT, and not being liable to excise duty, for which relief from customs duty only is claimed. The consignments must have been dispatched direct from a third country to the consignee in the UK to qualify for this relief.

Article 24 - The relief shall not apply to the following:
- alcohol products
- perfumes and toilet waters
- tobacco or tobacco products.
An Entry is not required for the following:
- Union transit goods, ie goods that enter, transit and leave the UK under cover of Union transit documents.
- Whales and fresh fish (including shellfish) of British taking, imported in British ships. In the absence of suspicion, fish imported in fishing vessels registered in the UK may be admitted duty free and without entry. Fish claimed to be British taking, and imported in a fish carrier registered in the UK may similarly be admitted free of duty and without entry provided that the Master delivers to the proper officer a written declaration that the fish is of British taking, stating the name of the vessel catching the fish. The goods remain subject to any relevant import prohibitions or restrictions.
- Free Zone goods (other than those goods which are chargeable with any Excise duty).
- Goods in Free Circulation in the EU where no charges are payable and no special controls exist.
- Special Procedure goods (Inward Processing (IP), Customs Warehousing, Temporary Admission, Outward Processing Relief (OPR) and End Use) received from another Member State under an authorisation involving more than one member state issued in another Member State that are moved to the UK to be used under the same authorisation.
Formal C88 entry is not required for the following categories of goods, but a declaration is required in certain cases:
- personal or household effects imported unaccompanied baggage (declaration is required) - from September 2016 a declaration will be required using CPC 40 00 C01
- for temporary admission of the following - see INCHP02280 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/import-and-national-clearance-hub-procedures/inchp02280)
- non EU persons accompanied or unaccompanied) personal effects reasonably required for a journey or goods for sports purposes
- welfare materials for seafarers
- non EU registered motor vehicles, civil aircraft or sea going vessels for private or commercial transport use by persons established outside the EU
- empty / unloaded non EU containers and pallets
- ATA carnet goods (ATACPD, Notice 104 ATA and CPD carnets). The ATA is accepted in lieu of any other customs documents, there could be an exclusion for some goods that are under cover of a licence, if HMRC identify any risks at the time the movement of goods takes place. With regards to Merchandise in Baggage, the value cannot exceed the value of £600, guidance can be obtained from the inventory linked location INCHP02580 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/import-and-national-clearance-hub-procedures/inchp02580)
- private motor vehicles, caravans and trailers (including small craft carried on trailers) imported by a private person for personal use (a declaration is required in certain cases)
- other vessels privately imported as effects (PCG Pleasure craft guidance)
- gear which is part of a ship's equipment for cargo stowage, unless it is landed for delivery in this country.
Special directions are necessary for the following items:
- live human tissue and human blood - see Notice 199
- corpses and ashes of cremated corpses - see Notice 199
- deceased seamen's effects- see Notice 199
- effects of other deceased persons - see Notice 199
- parcel lists
- importations by certain international organisations who do not have an office in the UK eg International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), European Telecommunications Satellite Organisation (EUTELSAT). Details of these importations will be notified by EPGAI.