Section 8 — financial security
Source: gov.uk (2025-11-18)

Guidance about financial security and what to do if you need to arrange a duty guarantee or movement guarantee.

8.1 Financial Security

For the purpose of this guide, financial security means a guarantee given by an approved guarantor (for example, a financial institution) who undertakes to pay money to us in the event of an irregularity covered by the guarantee. Guarantees are the only form of security acceptable to us.

8.2 Duty guarantees and the alcoholic products producer approval (APPA)

Under an alcoholic products producer approval (APPA), a guarantee is not required as standard to defer payment of duty, that is, for alcoholic products that have been produced in the UK and have passed the duty point, but for which duty has not been paid to HMRC. The deadline for payment of the monthly duty return is day 25 of the month following the alcoholic product being released for consumption. So, for example, if a product is released in March 2025, payment would be due by 25 April 2025.

However, in specific business circumstances we may require a guarantee to support the deferral of the duty payment. For example, where HMRC believes there to be a material risk to the revenue. We will inform you if a guarantee is required to defer payment of duty.

If you already have a guarantee in place, you need to ask us to review this by writing to HMRC (https://www.gov.uk/find-hmrc-contacts/excise-warehousing-excise-goods-movements-and-alcohol-duties-enquiries).

Where we are satisfied that financial guarantees are no longer needed, the requirement will be removed.

8.3 Arranging a movement guarantee

We do not require a movement guarantee for the movement of duty suspended alcoholic products within the UK. However where needed we can request a movement guarantee to safeguard the duty on the movements of duty suspended alcoholic products within the UK. The ownership of the alcoholic products will remain with the alcoholic products producer.

A movement guarantee is always required for imports and exports of alcoholic products to or from approved production premises.

To arrange a guarantee for movements of alcoholic product in the UK if requested by us, or intra-EU movements in Northern Ireland, you should refer to section 10 of receive goods into and remove goods from an excise warehouse (Excise Notice 197) (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/receive-goods-into-and-remove-goods-from-an-excise-warehouse-excise-notice-197) and then make a request in writing and send to:

HMRC Excise Processing Teams BX9 1GL

Once we’ve agreed your guarantee amount, we will issue the draft wording to your guarantor for completion of the guarantee form and return to the excise processing team. If satisfied, we will accept the guarantee and return a signed copy to the guarantor. We will write to you to confirm the guarantor has been approved.

8.4 Guarantors

Only companies approved by us can act as guarantors. Most banks and insurance companies have this approval, but if you want to check a particular company contact the excise processing teams.

The cost of the guarantee is a commercial arrangement between you and the guarantor.