The Customs (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

• (a) the claimant makes the payment, the claim is to be treated as a claim for repayment of duty; or

• (b) a person other than the claimant makes the payment, the claim is to be treated as withdrawn,

and HMRC must notify the claimant of that fact as soon as practicable after the payment is made.

• (3) Where a repayment and remission agent made the claim on behalf of a principal the references in paragraph (2)(a) and (b) to the claimant are to be read as referring to the principal.

Information and evidence in relation to claims

16Z1

• (1) A claim for repayment or remission must—

• (a) identify the case for repayment or remission described in the repayment and remission reference document relied upon;

• (b) identify the goods to which the claim relates;

• (c) identify how the eligibility criteria applicable to the claim are met or whether any eligibility criterion has been waived;

• (d) contain such information, be accompanied by such documents and evidence and include such declarations as may be specified in a notice published by HMRC.

• (2) In such cases as may be specified in a notice published by HMRC, a requirement under paragraph (1)(d) for a claim to be accompanied by specified documents or evidence may be met by the person who has made the claim, or any other person—

• (a) making the documents or evidence available for inspection by an HMRC officer; or

• (b) making available to HMRC information of a description specified in the notice (whether electronically or otherwise).

• (3) HMRC may publish a notice specifying the matters referred to in paragraphs (1)(d) and (2).

Waiver of eligibility criteria

16Z2

• (1) A claimant may apply to HMRC for approval of a waiver of an eligibility criterion if—

• (a) the criterion is described in the repayment and remission reference document as being subject to “exceptional waiver”; and

• (b) HMRC have published a notice permitting eligibility criteria to be waived.

• (2) An HMRC officer may approve the waiver if the officer is of the opinion that it is appropriate to waive the criterion, taking into consideration such factors as may be specified in a notice published by HMRC.

• (3) Regulations 85 to 91 (applications for approvals etc) of the import duty regulations apply in relation to an application under paragraph (2).

• (4) Section 23(5) of the Act applies to approvals granted under this regulation, including where the approval relates to a claim for repayment or remission in relation to a liability to duty chargeable under section 40A(1) of the Act.

• (5) HMRC may publish a notice specifying the matters referred to in paragraphs (1)(b) and (2).

Notifications of receipt and determination of a claim for repayment or remission

16Z3

• (1) Notification of receipt of the claim for repayment or remission must be given by HMRC to the claimant—

• (a) as soon as practicable after the date on which HMRC receive the claim; and

• (b) in any event, by no later than the expiry of the period of 30 days beginning with that date.

• (2) Notification that HMRC have determined to grant or refuse a claim for repayment or remission must be given to the claimant, and HMRC must do so—

• (a) as soon as practicable after the date on which notification is given under paragraph (1) or treated as given under regulation 16Z7(2); and

• (b) in any event, by no later than the expiry of—

• (i) the period of 120 days beginning with that date; or

• (ii) an extended period, not exceeding 30 days, beginning with the day when the period of 120 days expires, where HMRC need an extension in order to reach a determination.

• (3) HMRC must notify the claimant within the period of 120 days of any such extended period which HMRC need.

• (4) Reasons for a refusal of a claim for repayment or remission must be given with the notification of the determination.

• (5) Where HMRC fail to comply with paragraph (1) or (2), the claim is to be treated as refused.

Granting claims for repayment or remission

16Z4

• (1) A claim for repayment or remission may be granted by HMRC if—

• (a) HMRC are satisfied that the claim has been made in compliance with this Section; and

• (b) the amount to be repaid or remitted, as determined in accordance with paragraph (2) or (3), is a positive amount.

• (2) In relation to a claim for repayment or remission of duty charged under section 30A(3) of the Act, the amount to be repaid or remitted is—

• (a) where, at the time the liability to duty was incurred, the goods would not have been chargeable to duty under regulation 5 if they were goods for the internal market, the amount of duty notified in relation to those goods that has been paid or deferred; and

• (b) in any other case, the difference between the amount of duty paid or deferred in relation to the goods and the amount of duty that would have been chargeable in accordance with regulation 8 if those goods were relevant goods for the purposes of Chapter 3.

• (3) In relation to a claim for repayment or remission of duty charged under section 40A(1)(b) of the Act, the amount to be repaid or remitted is—

• (a) where the goods are chargeable to duty under section 40A(1)(a), the difference between the amount of duty paid or deferred in relation to those goods and the amount of duty that would have been chargeable in accordance with regulation 14 if those goods were relevant goods for the purposes of Chapter 4; and

• (b) in any other case, the amount of duty notified in relation to the goods that has been paid or deferred.

Time of repayment

16Z5

• (1) Where a claim for repayment is granted, HMRC must, when notification of the grant is given, repay the claimant the amount referred to in regulation 16Z4(2) or (3), as the case may be.

• (2) Paragraph (3) applies where—

• (a) a period of 30 working days has expired since the date that a notification of the grant is given;

• (b) HMRC have failed to repay some or all of the duty that is due to be repaid under paragraph (1) (“the outstanding amount”); and

• (c) that failure is substantially the fault of HMRC.

• (3) HMRC must pay interest at the applicable rate on the outstanding amount for the period—

• (a) beginning with the day after the date on which the period mentioned in paragraph (2)(a) expires; and

• (b) ending with the date on which the outstanding amount is paid in full.

• (4) In this regulation—

• (a) “the applicable rate” means the rate of interest provided by regulations for the purposes of section 197(2)(f) of the Finance Act 1996;

• (b) “working day” means any day except—

• (i) a Saturday or Sunday;

• (ii) Good Friday or Christmas day; or

• (iii) a bank holiday within the meaning of section 1 of the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971, including those bank holidays in part only of the United Kingdom;

• (c) where the claim for repayment is made by a repayment or remission agent on behalf of a principal the reference to the claimant is to be read as referring to the principal.

SECTION3 — Errors

Notification of errors

16Z6

• (1) Paragraph (2) applies where—

• (a) the claimant becomes aware of an error in the claim for repayment or remission; or

• (b) the claimant becomes aware that repayment or remission has been granted in error.

• (2) The claimant must—

• (a) notify HMRC as soon as practicable of details of the error, including when it first came to the claimant’s attention; and

• (b) make the notification in such form, and accompany it with such additional information or documentation, as HMRC may specify by notice.

• (3) If requested by an HMRC officer, the claimant must provide to the officer such additional information regarding the matters referred to in paragraph (1) as the officer reasonably requires.

• (4) Where—

• (a) a repayment and remission agent made the claim on behalf of a principal; and

• (b) the principal becomes aware of a matter described in paragraph (1),

paragraphs (2) and (3) apply to the principal as if the references to the claimant were to the principal.

• (5) HMRC may publish a notice specifying the matters referred to in paragraph (2)(b).

Rectification of errors in claim for repayment or remission before determination of claim

16Z7

• (1) Where a notification of an error in a claim for repayment or remission is received by HMRC before the claim is determined—

• (a) an HMRC officer must correct the claim, or direct the claimant to make the necessary corrections; and

• (b) the claim is to be determined on the basis of the information contained in the claim as corrected (or required to be corrected) under this regulation.

• (2) For the purposes of regulation 16Z3, notification of receipt of the claim is treated as given by HMRC on the date that the claim is corrected.

Repayments due to error

16Z8

• (1) —(1)Paragraph (2) applies where an HMRC officer becomes aware, whether by way of notification under regulation 16Z6 or otherwise, of an error in a claim for repayment or remission which resulted in a grant of an amount of repayment or remission to which the claimant was not entitled.

• (2) The grant of the claim is to be treated as null and void to the extent that the claimant was not entitled to the repayment or remission.

• (3) Where paragraph (2) applies, HMRC must give notification of that fact as soon as practicable to the claimant and such other persons as HMRC consider are likely to be affected by the matter.

• (4) If a repayment was made to a person to whom notification is given, that person must pay that repayment to HMRC, or such amount of the repayment to which the claimant was not entitled, together with any interest on that amount paid by HMRC under regulation 16Z5, before the expiry of the period of 10 days beginning with the date following the date on which the notification is given.

• (5) Any amount payable under paragraph (4) is recoverable as if it were an amount of duty of customs.

• (6) Interest is payable on the amount payable under paragraph (4) as if that amount were arrears of import duty.

• (7) For the purposes of Article 114 of the UCC (interest), notification of the customs debt in respect of the amount payable under paragraph (4) is treated as made on the date that the repayment referred to in that paragraph was made by HMRC.

• (8) Where the claim for repayment or remission is made by a repayment and remission agent on behalf of a principal the references to the claimant in this regulation are to be read as referring to the principal.

Agents’ liability

16Z9

• (1) Where a repayment and remission agent makes a claim for repayment or remission on behalf of, or purportedly on behalf of, a principal, paragraph (2) applies if—

• (a) the agent acts at a time when the appointment has not been disclosed to HMRC as mentioned in regulation 16U(3);

• (b) the agent purports to act on behalf of the principal when the agent has no authority to do so; or

• (c) the agent provides false information in connection with the claim for repayment or remission and the agent knew, or ought reasonably to have known, that the information was false.

• (2) The agent (as well as the principal) is liable to—

• (a) repay any amount referred to in regulation 16Z8(4); and

• (b) pay any amount which is no longer treated as remitted.

SECTION4 — Records

Record keeping

16Z10

• (1) The claimant must keep and preserve such records in respect of any claim for repayment or remission in such form and for such period as specified in a notice published by HMRC.

• (2) Where the claim for repayment or remission is made by a repayment and remission agent on behalf of a principal—

• (a) the reference in paragraph (1) to the claimant is to be read as referring to the principal; and

• (b) the agent must provide to the claimant such documents as may be specified in a notice published by HMRC.

• (3) HMRC must publish a notice specifying the matters referred to in paragraph (1).

Undertaking lead

16CA

• (1) For the purposes of this Chapter, an undertaking lead is a person in a single undertaking appointed as the undertaking lead for the single undertaking and notified to HMRC.

• (2) The person appointed must be established in the UK.

• (3) The appointment must be in accordance with rules specified in a notice published by HMRC.

• (4) The notification must be in the form and manner and include such information and evidence as specified in a notice published by HMRC.

• (5) The appointment has effect until—

• (a) it is substituted by a new appointment made in accordance with this regulation;

• (b) it is resigned by the undertaking lead in the form and manner specified in a notice published by HMRC;

• (c) it is cancelled by HMRC under paragraph (6);

• (d) the undertaking lead ceases to be established in the UK; or

• (e) the undertaking lead ceases to be part of the single undertaking.

• (6) Where an undertaking lead fails to comply with any obligation under this Chapter, HMRC may cancel the appointment in the form and manner specified in a notice published by HMRC.

• (7) A person whose appointment as an undertaking lead has been cancelled under paragraph (6) may not be appointed again for one year following the cancellation unless HMRC consents to the appointment.

• (8) HMRC must publish a notice specifying the matters referred to in paragraphs (3) to (6).

Waiver of commercial activity criterion eligibility criteria

Further liability to duty

16PA

• (1) Where regulation 16O or 16P applies and an aid beneficiary other than the claimant benefitted from the relief to which the claimant was not entitled, those regulations apply to that aid beneficiary and, subject to paragraph (2), references in those regulations to the claimant are treated as references to that aid beneficiary.

• (2) Paragraph (1) does not apply to the references to the claimant in regulation 16O(1)(b), (2) and (6) and regulation 16P(8).

• (3) In paragraph (1), “aid beneficiary” means a person who would be identified under the Commission Notice on the recovery of unlawful and incompatible State aid (C/2019/5396) as a person from whom recovery of incompatible aid may be made.

Recovery of duty

Agents’ liability

Provision of information by undertaking lead

16SA

• (1) An undertaking lead must provide to HMRC such information and evidence as specified in a notice published by HMRC which may include information in relation to—

• (a) applicable de minimis state aid limits in relation to claimants and de minimis state aid granted to persons in the single undertaking for which it is the undertaking lead; and

• (b) details of the persons in the single undertaking, the trade carried on by those persons and the relationships between those persons.

• (2) The information and evidence must be given within such time and in the form and manner specified in the notice.

• (3) If required to do so by notice in writing given by an HMRC officer, the undertaking lead must provide to the officer such information and evidence in relation to any claim for relief made by a person in the single undertaking as the officer reasonably specifies within such time and in the form and manner specified in the notice.

• (4) HMRC must publish a notice specifying the matters referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2).

Waiver of eligibility criteria

Treatment of qualifying Northern Ireland goods in Northern Ireland

25A

Qualifying Northern Ireland goods that are in Northern Ireland and are not domestic goods are to be treated as if they were domestic goods for the purposes of Part 1 of the Act (import duty).

Retention of domestic goods status

Retention of domestic goods status – declarations

Application of the Customs (Import Duty) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 for the purposes of duty charged under section 30C

32A

• (1) Regulations 53A (trade remedy repayment investigations) and 53B (repayment of import duty following Trade Remedies Authority review) of the import duty regulations apply for the purposes of duty charged under section 30A(3) or 40A of the Act subject to the modifications in paragraph (3).

• (2) Regulations 55 to 65 and 68 to 70 of the import duty regulations apply for the purposes of giving effect to paragraph (1) subject to the modifications in paragraph (3).

• (3) The regulations referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) are modified as follows—

• (a) any references to “import duty” are to be read as references to duty chargeable under section 30A(3) or 40A of the Act;

• (b) the reference to “chargeable goods” in regulation 56 (applications for remission and repayment of duty) is to be read as a reference to goods that are not Union goods;

• (c) the reference to “inward processing, transit or storage procedure” in regulation 61(3)(b) (inspection of goods) is to be read as a reference to the applicable special procedure referred to in Article 210 of the UCC.

Application of the Customs (Special Procedures and Outward Processing) (EU Exit) Regulation 2018

Application of the Customs Transit Procedures (EU Exit) Regulations 2018

Application of the Customs (Managed Transition Procedure) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019

Application of the Taxation Cross-border Trade (Special Procedures Supplementary and General Provision etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

Modification of section 159 of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979

28A

Section 159 of CEMA 1979 (power to examine and take account of goods) applies for any purpose in connection with duty under section 30A(3) or 40A of the Act as if—

• (a) the amendments to that section made by paragraph 107 of Schedule 7 to the Act had effect for that purpose; and

• (b) in subsection (1), for paragraphs (aa) and (ab) there were substituted—

(aa) which are subject to customs supervision within the meaning of Article 134 of Regulation (EU)952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 October 2013 laying down Union Customs Code as it has effect as a result of Section 7A of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (“the code”); or (ab) which have been released in accordance with Article 194 of the Code so far as is necessary for the purpose of verifying the accuracy and completeness of the information given in a customs declaration; or

Application of the Customs and Excise (Transit) Regulations 1993

Application of the Customs Traders (Accounts and Records) Regulations 1995

Application of the Customs (Contravention of a Relevant Rule) Regulations 2003

Application of the Customs (Import Duty) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 to repayments of duty following trade remedy repayment investigations or Trade Remedies Authority review

Application of the Customs (Special Procedures and Outward Processing) (EU Exit) Regulation 2018

Application of the Customs Transit Procedures (EU Exit) Regulations 2018

Application of the Customs (Managed Transition Procedure) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019

Application of the Taxation Cross-border Trade (Special Procedures Supplementary and General Provision etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020