The situation
A year’s import volumes through three countries
A Dutch distributor of industrial fasteners imports about EUR 40 million of goods a year from Asia, through Rotterdam, Antwerp and, for its UK subsidiary, Felixstowe. Today the customs broker pays the import VAT at clearance and recharges it, and the money comes back weeks later through the VAT return. The CFO wants a memo on ending that.
Each of the three countries lets importers account for import VAT in the return instead of paying at the border, but under different names and conditions, and two of them need a licence the company does not hold. The hours go on setting the three side by side, with what each requires and what changes in the returns.
What the research has to settle
The rules behind the answer
- Import VAT can move into the return
- The VAT Directive allows member states to let import VAT be accounted for in the VAT return rather than paid at import. Whether a business can use this, and on what conditions, is a matter of national law.
- The Netherlands: a licence to shift the VAT
- Dutch law allows import VAT to be shifted to the VAT return under a licence from the tax authority. Businesses not established in the Netherlands generally use it through a fiscal representative.
- Belgium: its own licence and conditions
- Belgium operates its own licence for deferring import VAT to the periodic return, with conditions on returns and compliance. The research confirms the current conditions and how to apply.
- The UK: postponed accounting without a licence
- In the UK, a VAT-registered importer can account for import VAT on its return using postponed VAT accounting without prior authorisation, using a monthly statement to complete the return. Customs duty is not covered.
How it runs in azta
From the question to the document
The question, as you would type it
Dutch BV importing goods from Asia through Rotterdam and Antwerp, and a UK subsidiary importing through Felixstowe. Import VAT is currently paid at clearance. What are the options to account for import VAT in the VAT return in each country, what are the conditions, and which licences do we need?
You start with
A year’s import volumes through three countries
- 01
Describe the import flows
Give the entities, ports, volumes and who acts as declarant. azta searches the VAT Directive, the Dutch and Belgian VAT law and UK legislation.
Cited research· Free - 02
Set the three regimes side by side
Open the cited provisions in the reader and compare the conditions in each country, in the original language.
Atlas statute reader - 03
Draft the CFO memo
Ask for a memo with a table per country: route, conditions, licence, effect on the return. Edit it in Canvas.
Canvas · Ask azta· Pro - 04
Export for the finance committee
Export to Word with the citations kept on file for the tax team.
Word export· Pro You send
A memo on the options to account for import VAT in the return, with conditions and licences
What you get
A memo on the options to account for import VAT in the return, with conditions and licences
CFO memo · draft
Import VAT: ending payment at the border
Netherlands. The BV can apply for a licence to shift import VAT on its Rotterdam imports to its Dutch VAT return, where it is declared and, with full deduction, deducted in the same return. The customs broker then quotes the licence on each declaration.
Belgium. Goods released in Antwerp are imported in Belgium. The BV is not established there, so we need to establish whether it can obtain the Belgian licence through a representative, or whether releasing the goods in Rotterdam instead is the better route. That choice also affects the customs and logistics flow.
United Kingdom. The subsidiary can use postponed VAT accounting from its next import without applying. Import VAT is then declared and recovered on the same return using the monthly statement. Customs duty is still payable as today.
Outcomes on your numbers
What azta is worth on this task
Pro pays for itself after
11 minutes a month
At €150 an hour, that is all the time Pro (€27 a month) has to take off your desk to cover its price.
Example figures. Replace them with your own.
- Hours back a year
- 22
- Capacity at your rate
- €3,240
- More import VAT memos a quarter
- 0.8
- Return on Pro
- 10×
- Research
- Drafting
- Your review
A scenario you set, not a promise. The hours that come back go to another client, or deeper into this one.
Want these numbers on your team’s real workload?
Book a demoSources azta searches here
- EUR-Lex · Curia
- wetten.overheid.nl
- Belastingdienst
- Justel
- legislation.gov.uk
What stays with you
- Applying for the licences and instructing the customs brokers.
- The cash-flow figures behind the recommendation.
- Authority guidance azta does not hold, such as HMRC’s published notices.
Frequently asked questions
- Does postponed accounting change the amount of VAT?
- No. It changes when and how import VAT is accounted for. A business with full deduction declares and deducts it in the same return.
- Does azta cover the UK?
- Yes. It holds UK legislation from legislation.gov.uk alongside EU and member-state law.
- Can azta apply for the licence?
- No. It sets out the conditions and drafts the memo. The application and the broker instructions stay with your team.
