RESOURCES · GUIDES & CHECKLISTS

Guides & Checklists

Practical guides and checklists for UK customs compliance and audit preparation — what HMRC checks, what it costs to get wrong, and how to put it right.

Nine guides · audits, classification, reliefs & reclaims
Complete guide

Customs Audit: The Complete Guide for UK Importers

What triggers an HMRC customs audit, how to prepare, what they check, and how to turn audit risk into duty recovery. 17% of UK declarations contain errors.

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The 3-year window

Post-Clearance Audit: The 3-Year Window

Understanding HMRC post-clearance audit: the 3-year risk window, how audits are selected, where to find duty recovery opportunities, and how BorderAudit addresses the compliance gap.

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Audit triggers

What Triggers an HMRC Customs Audit?

The commonly understood risk factors behind HMRC audit selection — data anomalies, preference scrutiny, sector campaigns — and how to be ready before the letter.

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Checklist

The Customs Audit Checklist

A practical pre-audit checklist across the six risk dimensions HMRC examines — preference evidence, classification, valuation, special procedures, data errors and agent oversight.

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Self-assessment

Customs Compliance Check: Free Self-Assessment

Run a compliance health check on your UK import operations. Assess classification, valuation, origin, and preference risks before HMRC does.

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Representation

Customs Audit Representation: Your Options

Facing an HMRC customs audit? Understand your representation options: DIY, traditional consultant, or automated platform. What each costs and when you need them.

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Duty reclaim

The Customs Duty Reclaim Guide

Most UK importers overpay customs duty and can reclaim it within a 3-year window. Covers the C285 reclaim routes, what a post-clearance audit checks, and what to gather.

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Classification

Tariff Classification Explained

How commodity codes decide what you pay at the border, why the importer owns classification (not the agent), and how errors become both reclaims and exposure.

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Relief

Returned Goods Relief (RGR)

The relief that stops you paying duty twice on your own goods — the three conditions, how to claim, and the 3-year retrospective reclaim window.

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Read the guide. Then run the audit.

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