UK EXPORTERS · EXPORT COMPLIANCE AUDIT

Your exports come back. Are you paying import duty on goods you already own?

Returns, repairs, rejected consignments, unsold stock — every re-import of your own exports can qualify for relief. BorderAudit links each one back to its original export in your HMRC declaration data and prepares the reclaim.

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2-minute check · no data upload, no card
THE LEAK

Your exports create import opportunities. Most expire unclaimed.

UK EXPORTS · RE-IMPORTS

HMRC (His Majesty's Revenue & Customs) processes 4.4 million declaration lines a day, and 17% of UK declarations contain errors. For exporters the errors are asymmetric: when your own goods come back and the relief isn't claimed, the entry clears, the duty is charged, and nothing flags it.

▲ Full duty by default
Re-imports are charged like new imports
A customer return, a rejected consignment, unsold stock coming home — customs treats each one as a fresh import. Unless relief is claimed on the entry, duty (and often import VAT) is charged on goods you already own.
▲ Repairs
Repaired goods taxed at full value
Send a machine abroad for repair and re-import it outside the outward processing procedure, and duty can be charged on the full value of the machine — not just the repair. Your own product gets taxed twice.
▲ Broken linkage
Nobody links the re-import to your export
Forwarders, carriers and agents each see one leg of the journey. Across 4.4 million declaration lines a day, no one connects a re-import back to its original export — so the relief is never evidenced, and never claimed.
▲ Closing window
The 3-year reclaim window closes monthly
Duty overpaid on an entry can generally be reclaimed up to three years afterwards. Every month, your oldest re-imports quietly drop out of scope — and every unaudited year of exports expires on schedule.
THE AUDIT

What is an export compliance audit?

An export compliance audit is a post-clearance review of a business's export declarations and the imports linked to them. It checks that classification, valuation and origin statements on the export side are defensible to HMRC — and it identifies re-imports of the same goods where Returned Goods Relief (RGR) or Outward Processing Relief (OPR) should have been claimed. For a UK exporter it answers three questions: is your export paperwork defensible, did any of your exports come back, and was duty overpaid when they did.

Scope 01
Export declarations & evidence
Classification, valuation and the evidence trail on your export entries — checked against what HMRC expects before HMRC checks it for you.
Scope 02
Re-imports of your own goods
Every import entry matched against your export history to find returns, rejected consignments and unsold stock where Returned Goods Relief applies.
Scope 03
Processing & repair flows
Repeat repair and processing traffic flagged where outward processing would cut the duty bill — and where full duty is being paid on your own goods today.
Where the recovery comes from

Relief missed at the border isn't gone — duty overpaid on an entry can generally be reclaimed from HMRC for up to three years afterwards, through the post-clearance repayment process. The audit finds the entries; the reclaim brings the money back. Read the duty reclaim guide →

THE TWO RELIEFS

RGR or outward processing?

Two different reliefs cover goods that come back — which one applies depends on what happened to the goods while they were away.

RELIEF 01 · RGR

Returned Goods Relief — goods that come back unaltered.

✓Customer returns, rejected deliveries, unsold stock
✓Goods must return within 3 years, in the state they left
✓Full relief on import duty — and in many cases import VAT
✓Claimed at re-import with the right customs procedure code
RELIEF 02 · OPR

Outward Processing Relief — goods sent out to be worked on.

✓Repairs, processing and finishing done outside the UK
✓Duty on the value added abroad — not the full re-import value
✓Free-of-charge warranty repairs can qualify for full relief
✓Declared on the export side — plan it in, don't retrofit it
The dividing line

If the goods came back exactly as they left, it's RGR. If anything was done to them abroad — a repair, an upgrade, any processing — RGR is generally lost, and outward processing is the route. OPR has to be set up when the goods are exported, which is why BorderAudit flags repair and processing flows where full duty is being paid today: recover what the 3-year window still allows, and stop the leak going forward.

THE EVIDENCE TRAIL

Relief lives or dies on the export-side paper trail.

HMRC grants relief on a re-import only when it can be linked to the export that preceded it. Four pieces of evidence do that work — and the same trail protects your VAT zero-rating and your customers' preference claims.

Evidence 01
The export declaration
The original export entry and its Movement Reference Number (MRN) — the anchor of every relief claim. If the export can't be identified, the relief can't be evidenced.
Evidence 02
Proof the goods left
Transport documents, carrier confirmations and port records showing the goods physically departed the UK — the same proof that protects VAT zero-rating on the sale.
Evidence 03
Commercial identity
Invoices, serial numbers and batch references linking the returning goods to the ones you exported. Weak identity linkage is the most common reason claims fail.
Evidence 04
Origin statements
The statements on origin you issue to overseas customers under trade agreements. Get them wrong and it's your customers' preference claims — and your commercial relationships — at risk.
GET AUDIT-READY BEFORE HMRC ASKS →AUDIT YOUR ORIGIN & PREFERENCE CLAIMS →
HOW IT WORKS

How BorderAudit finds it in your HMRC data.

Step 01 · Connect
Grant access once
Authorise BorderAudit against your HMRC declaration data through Government Gateway — both sides of the ledger, import and export history. No integration project, no data upload.
Step 02 · Analyse
Indicator-weighted scoring
Automated analysis links every re-import to your export history and scores each one for relief probability — RGR or outward processing — with a recommended customs procedure code (CPC) attached.
Step 03 · Review
Specialist review
A customs specialist reviews every scored candidate and can override the recommendation before anything is claimed. Nothing goes to HMRC on a score alone.
Step 04 · Reclaim
Reclaim pack & submission
Evidence-linked reclaim files are prepared and submitted to HMRC — 91% of claims are accepted first time.
Nothing changes on your side

No change to your shipping, forwarders or agents. BorderAudit works entirely from the declaration data — your export operation keeps running exactly as it is.

SEE HOW THE HMRC AUDIT WORKS →
PROOF

One exporter's returns were worth £144,000.

UK CUSTOMS · FIGURES TO DATE

A UK fashion retailer exporting to customers overseas was re-importing its returns without claiming Returned Goods Relief — paying duty twice on stock it already owned. BorderAudit's analysis of two years of HMRC declaration data linked each re-import to its original export and prepared the reclaim. Accepted by HMRC first time.

£144K
Recovered on one exporter's returns
91%
HMRC first-time acceptance
£4.7M
Recovered for UK businesses to date
200+
Businesses on the platform
WHO IT'S FOR

Two ways to stop the leak.

FOR EXPORTERS & MANUFACTURERS

Recover duty on your own re-imported goods.

✓Free to start — no card, no commitment
✓Every re-import matched to its original export and scored
✓Flat pricing, never a percentage of what you recover
✓Reclaims prepared, filed and tracked for you
FOR FORWARDERS & EXPORT AGENTS

Offer export-side audits to your client book.

✓Partner tier: flat platform economics, no success-fee mechanics
✓White-label or co-branded — your brand or ours
✓Runs on HMRC declaration data — zero change to your operations
✓Give every exporter client a recovery they didn't know existed
FREE EXPORT AUDIT

See what your exports are owed.

Check your trade profile in two minutes — no data upload, no card. We confirm your import and export activity from HMRC, Companies House and UK trade data, then model what a full export-side audit could recover before the reclaim window closes.

●2-minute check
●No data upload
●Reply within 1 working day
STEP 1/3

Check your import status

Enter your VAT number or business name — we'll check HMRC, Companies House and UK trade data for your import activity.

FAQ

Export relief, answered.

An export compliance audit is a post-clearance review of a business's export declarations and the imports linked to them. It checks that classifications, valuations and origin statements on the export side are defensible to HMRC, and identifies re-imports of the same goods where Returned Goods Relief or Outward Processing Relief should have been claimed. BorderAudit runs this automatically across your HMRC declaration data.

Your exports already earned this relief. Claim it.

Connect your HMRC data once and BorderAudit links every re-import back to its original export — Returned Goods Relief, outward processing, and the evidence to defend both — before the three-year window closes. Free to start. Flat pricing. No success fees.

Start a free auditborderaudit.io