HMRC TRE Data: How to Access and Use Your Trader Records Extract

The HMRC Trader Records Extract (TRE) is a downloadable report of every customs declaration line submitted against your EORI number through the Customs Declaration Service (CDS). You request it through your Government Gateway account, HMRC generates it within 5-10 working days, and the file stays available for 30 days before it is deleted.

That one file is the raw material for post-clearance customs audit. It shows what was declared, what was paid, and where the errors sit. This guide explains what the extract contains, how to request it, why the download window matters, and how to put the data to work.

What Is HMRC TRE Data?

The Trader Records Extract is HMRC's official line-level record of your customs activity. It covers every import and export declaration submitted through CDS against your Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) number, broken down declaration by declaration and line by line.

TRE replaced the older Monthly Statistical Statements (MSS). MSS reports were summary-level: useful for spotting broad trends, but silent on the individual lines, values and customs treatments behind them. TRE maps directly to the CDS declaration structure, so every field your broker submitted is visible. For a fuller comparison, read our guide to TRE vs MSS vs CDS data.

What Does a Trader Records Extract Contain?

A TRE file is typically delivered as a CSV or similar tabular format. Each row represents a single declaration line, and the extract includes both header-level and item-level data:

• Movement Reference Number (MRN)
• 10-digit commodity codes
• Customs value in GBP
• Duty and VAT amounts
• Country of origin and country of dispatch
• Preference codes and rates
• Customs Procedure Codes (CPCs)
• Declaration dates
• EORI numbers of the declarant and the importer
• Supplementary units

The volume depends on your trade profile. A medium-sized importer might see 5,000-50,000 lines over two years; large importers can have millions. Either way, the structure is consistent, which is what makes the extract suitable for checking every line rather than sampling a few.

How Does TRE Differ from MSS and CDS Data?

Three HMRC data sources get confused with each other, and the distinction matters when you decide what to request:

• MSS (Monthly Statistical Statements): legacy summary-level reports showing aggregate import and export values by commodity code and country. Now replaced by TRE.
• CDS data: individual declarations viewable in the CDS dashboard, one entry at a time.
• TRE: the full downloadable dataset of your CDS declaration history, with line-level detail in one structured file.

In practice, TRE is the only format that supports audit at scale. Checking declarations one by one in the CDS dashboard works for a handful of entries. It does not work for 20,000 lines.

How Do You Request Your TRE from HMRC?

You need an HMRC Government Gateway account linked to your EORI number. The request itself takes minutes; the wait is at HMRC's end.

1. Log in to your HMRC Government Gateway account.
2. Go to the customs services section.
3. Select "Request trade data" (or contact HMRC's Tariff Classification Service if directed).
4. Specify the period you need, typically up to 2-3 years of declaration history.
5. Wait for HMRC to generate the report, usually within 5-10 working days, then download it.

HMRC publishes guidance on requesting CDS import and export data on gov.uk, including who can make the request and what the report covers.

The period you choose matters. HMRC can assess underpaid duty for three years after clearance, and the same three-year window applies to reclaiming overpayments. A full extract covering that window gives you the complete picture on both sides of the ledger.

Granting Third-Party Access

You can authorise a customs agent, accountant or audit platform to request and retrieve TRE data on your behalf through HMRC's standard agent authorisation process in Government Gateway. The authorisation is scoped to customs data only, not your wider tax affairs, and you can revoke it at any time. We cover the process step by step in our guide to granting third-party TRE access.

BorderAudit uses this route to automate retrieval. Once connected, the platform requests the extract, collects it when HMRC generates it, and stores it before the download window closes.

Why Does the 30-Day Download Window Matter?

TRE reports stay available for 30 days from the date HMRC generates them. After that, the file is deleted and must be re-requested, adding another 5-10 working days to your timeline.

The window sits on HMRC's side and there is no extension. If the file expires before anyone downloads it, you start the request again from scratch.

Missed windows are common. The request goes in, the notification arrives while the team is busy with month-end, and the file expires unread. In an audit or reclaim context that delay has a cost, particularly when older declarations are approaching the edge of the three-year window. Automated retrieval removes the problem: the file is collected as soon as it appears.

What Can You Do with TRE Data?

With the full extract in hand, you can run a post-clearance audit across your entire declaration history rather than a sample. Five reviews cover most of the value.

1. Classification Review

• Compare declared commodity codes against the UK Trade Tariff.
• Identify inconsistent coding for the same product across brokers, sites or months.
• Spot lines where a higher-duty code was used instead of the correct one.

Classification drift is the usual finding: the same product declared under different codes by different brokers, or by the same broker in different months. Each variant carries its own duty rate, and only one of them is correct.

2. Valuation Analysis

• Reconcile declared customs values with commercial invoices.
• Check for non-dutiable charges incorrectly included in the customs value.
• Identify missing dutiable additions, such as assists and royalties.

Valuation errors cut both ways. Overstated values mean overpaid duty you can reclaim; understated values mean exposure HMRC can assess. The extract makes both visible against the same invoice evidence.

3. Origin and Preference Review

• Calculate your preference utilisation rate across the trade agreements that apply to your supply chain.
• Find shipments that qualified for preferential duty rates but were declared at full duty.

The gap here is often larger than importers expect. BorderAudit's analysis of UK textile imports found a 53% preference utilisation gap: more than half of eligible lines paid full duty when zero-tariff treatment was available.

4. Import VAT Reconciliation

Because the extract holds duty and VAT amounts for every line, it supports reconciliation against your VAT returns, C79 certificates and postponed VAT accounting statements. Our guide to fixing import VAT and PVA reconciliation errors shows how to run these checks with TRE data.

5. Duty Reclaims

Every error that produced an overpayment is a candidate for a C285 reclaim through CDS, going back three years. TRE data lets you quantify each opportunity line by line before you commit to a claim. Our guide to using TRE data for C285 reclaims walks through the process from identification to submission.

From Extract to Audit: Next Steps

The Trader Records Extract turns customs compliance from guesswork into a data exercise. To recap:

• Request your TRE through Government Gateway, covering as much of the three-year assessment window as HMRC will provide.
• Download the file within 30 days, or automate retrieval so the window is never missed.
• Run classification, valuation, origin and VAT reviews across every line, not a sample.
• Quantify overpayments and underpayments before deciding what to reclaim or disclose.

You can work through a small extract in a spreadsheet. Beyond a few thousand lines, automation is the sensible route. BorderAudit's free tier connects to Government Gateway, retrieves your TRE data and runs the audit across your full declaration history, so the analysis is ready before you decide what to act on. Check your eligibility in a couple of minutes.