GUIDES • COMPLIANCE CHECK

Check Your Customs Compliance Before HMRC Does.

A customs compliance check is a systematic scan of your import declarations—classification, valuation, origin, preferences, and procedure codes—to surface errors, overpayments, and risks. 17% of UK import declarations contain errors. Most importers don't know until HMRC tells them.

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What Is a Customs Compliance Check?

A customs compliance check is a systematic review of your import declarations to identify errors, overpayments, and compliance risks. It examines every aspect of your customs entries—from commodity codes to customs values to preference claims—against current tariff rules and HMRC requirements.

It's not the same as:

  • A one-off customs audit — reactive, triggered by HMRC, focused on a specific concern
  • An AEO assessment — a certification process with different scope and objectives
  • A software implementation — tools are important, but a compliance check is about outcomes, not technology

Compliance Scan

A broad health check across all your declarations. Identifies systemic issues, patterns of error, and recovery opportunities across your full import history.

Targeted Audit

A focused review of specific risk areas—a particular commodity code, supplier, or preference claim—where you suspect issues or HMRC has flagged concerns.

The 5-Point Compliance Check.

Every compliance scan should cover these five areas. Miss one and you're leaving risk—or money—on the table.

1. Classification Accuracy

Are your commodity codes correct? Wrong HS codes mean wrong duty rates—sometimes higher, sometimes lower. Both create risk.

2. Valuation Methodology

Is your customs value calculated correctly? Non-dutiable charges like inland freight or buying commissions should not be included.

3. Origin & Preferences

Are you claiming all eligible FTA preferences? The UK has a 53% preference utilisation gap in textiles alone. That's duty paid unnecessarily.

4. Procedure Codes

Are your CPCs correct? Missing relief eligibility for Inward Processing, Temporary Admission, or end-use means paying full duty when you don't have to.

5. Documentation

Can you evidence every claim? Invoices, certificates of origin, and declarations must all align. Gaps in documentation are the first thing HMRC targets.

Run your free compliance check in under an hour.

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Common Findings from UK Importer Compliance Checks.

These are the patterns we see across hundreds of compliance scans. Most importers have at least two of these issues.

17%
Declaration error rate
£4.7M
Duty recovered to date
53%
Preference utilisation gap
14%
Avg. overpayment rate

Missed Preferences

Zero-tariff opportunities under UK FTAs not claimed at clearance. Retroactive preference claims can recover thousands per shipment across your declaration history.

Classification Drift

Commodity codes not updated when products change. A product range evolves but the HS codes stay the same—resulting in incorrect duty rates across hundreds of entries.

Valuation Overstatement

Non-dutiable charges like inland freight, buying commissions, and post-importation costs incorrectly included in customs value. These inflate your duty bill on every entry.

Procedure Misapplication

Wrong CPC for the relief type, or eligible reliefs not applied at all. Inward Processing, Temporary Admission, and end-use relief can suspend or reduce duty entirely.

How BorderAudit Runs Your Compliance Check.

No spreadsheets. No manual data extraction. Connect once and your full declaration history is scanned automatically.

1. Connect Government Gateway

Link your HMRC Government Gateway account in under 5 minutes. Read-only access—we never modify your declarations.

2. We Pull Your MSS/CDS Data

Your import declaration data is pulled automatically from HMRC's systems. No CSV exports, no broker requests, no manual uploads.

3. 100+ Compliance Checks Run

Automated checks run across your full history—classification, valuation, origin, preferences, CPCs, and documentation.

4. Dashboard Shows Results

Your compliance dashboard surfaces risks, recoverable duty, and benchmarks against sector averages—all in one view.

5. C285 Reclaim Packs Generated

For every overpayment identified, BorderAudit auto-generates a C285 reclaim pack with all supporting documentation ready for HMRC submission.

Frequently Asked Questions.

What is a customs compliance check?

A customs compliance check is a systematic review of your import declarations to identify errors, duty overpayments, missed preferences, and compliance risks. It covers classification, valuation, origin, procedure codes, and supporting documentation across your full declaration history.

How much does a customs compliance scan cost?

BorderAudit offers a free initial compliance scan that connects to your Government Gateway account and runs 100+ automated checks across your declaration history. There is no upfront cost, and you only pay if recoverable duty is identified and successfully reclaimed.

How long does a customs compliance check take?

Connecting your Government Gateway account takes under 5 minutes. BorderAudit then pulls your MSS/CDS data and runs automated checks across your full history. Most importers receive their initial compliance dashboard within an hour of connecting.

What's the difference between a compliance check and a customs audit?

A compliance check is proactive—you run it yourself to find and fix issues before HMRC does. A customs audit is reactive—HMRC selects you for investigation and demands evidence. Running regular compliance checks reduces your audit risk and surfaces duty recovery opportunities.

What data do I need for a compliance check?

You need access to your HMRC Government Gateway account. BorderAudit connects directly and pulls your MSS (import declaration) and CDS data automatically. No spreadsheets, no manual uploads, no data extraction from your broker required.

Can a compliance check find overpaid duty?

Yes. Compliance checks routinely identify overpayments from missed FTA preferences, classification errors, valuation overstatements, and unclaimed procedure reliefs. BorderAudit has recovered £4.7m in overpaid duty for UK importers to date.

How often should I run a customs compliance check?

Best practice is continuous monitoring rather than periodic checks. Product ranges change, tariff schedules update, and new FTAs come into force. BorderAudit runs checks automatically as new declarations are filed, so your compliance posture is always current.

Your customs data holds the answers. Let's find them.

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