Menu
Register

Postponed import VAT accounting

Postponed VAT accounting lets a VAT-registered business declare and reclaim import VAT on the same VAT return, with no payment at the border. No approval is needed.

Accountin · Last checked 2 October 2026

Who can use it

  • Businesses registered for VAT in the UK (GOV.UK).
  • For goods imported into Great Britain from anywhere outside the UK, and into Northern Ireland from outside the UK and EU.
  • The goods must be for use in the business, and the business must have the right to dispose of them, usually as the owner.
  • Goods for mixed business and non-business use, or whose use is not known at import, can also be included.

How it works

  1. The import declaration

    The importer, or its customs agent, selects accounting for import VAT on the VAT return and enters the VAT registration number at header level in Data Element 3/40 (GOV.UK).

  2. The monthly statement

    HMRC publishes a postponed import VAT statement in the Customs Declaration Service, usually by the 10th working day of the month (GOV.UK).

  3. Download it

    Statements can be retrieved for 6 months from publication. Download and keep a copy of each one in the client's records. Older statements are archived.

  4. Complete the return

    Put the postponed VAT in box 1, reclaim it in box 4 under the normal rules, and put the value of the imports in box 7 (GOV.UK).

The boxes

  • Box 1: the VAT due in the period on imports accounted for through postponed VAT accounting (GOV.UK).
  • Box 4: the VAT reclaimed in the period on those imports. The normal rules decide what is reclaimable, and the monthly statement supports the claim.
  • Box 7: the total value of all imports of goods in the period, excluding VAT.

A worked example

For example, a retailer imports goods into Great Britain in May with a value of £20,000 excluding VAT, and import VAT of £4,000. The monthly statement shows the £4,000.

On the quarter to 30 June the retailer enters £4,000 in box 1, £4,000 in box 4 and £20,000 in box 7. The net cost is nil and no VAT was paid at the border (GOV.UK).

Records to keep

  • A downloaded copy of every monthly postponed import VAT statement. Statements can be retrieved for 6 months from publication, and older ones are archived (GOV.UK).
  • The import declarations showing the VAT registration number in Data Element 3/40 (GOV.UK).
  • Evidence that the goods are for use in the business and that the business can dispose of them.
  • Under Making Tax Digital, the summary totals for the period, which include input tax claimable and each adjustment (VAT Notice 700/22).

Paying import VAT at the border

A business that does not use postponed VAT accounting pays import VAT when the goods arrive, either upfront or through a duty deferment account (GOV.UK). Postponed VAT accounting needs no approval, and the business chooses it on each import declaration (GOV.UK).

If the statement is missing

If an import declaration was delayed and there is no statement for it yet, GOV.UK says the business must estimate the postponed import VAT for the return. When the statement arrives, it adjusts any difference on its next VAT return.

Flat rate businesses

For return periods starting on or after 1 June 2022, a flat rate business deals with postponed import VAT outside the flat rate calculation. It leaves the imports out of its flat rate turnover and adds the import VAT to box 1 after the flat rate calculation (GOV.UK). See the flat rate scheme.

Questions

Does cash accounting change the timing?

Imports are excluded from the cash accounting scheme (VAT Notice 731), so they are accounted for under the normal rules.

What about goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland?

Where such a movement is declared into a special customs procedure, the person discharging the goods accounts for the VAT and can use postponed VAT accounting if registered (GOV.UK). See VAT on EU and Northern Ireland goods.

Can a business that is not VAT registered use it?

No. A business must be registered for VAT in the UK to use postponed VAT accounting (GOV.UK).

Does a customs agent change anything?

The agent makes the declaration and selects postponed VAT accounting, but the VAT registration number on the declaration must be the importer's (GOV.UK).

Who can sign in to the statements?

The statements are in the Customs Declaration Service, using the sign-in details created when the business registered for VAT (GOV.UK). Problems go to the imports and exports helpline.

In Accountin

In Accountin, postponed import VAT from the monthly statement is entered with the PVA VAT code, which puts it in boxes 1, 4 and 7 of the VAT return built from the books.

Related guides

VATVAT return boxes 1 to 9 explainedWhat goes in each of the nine VAT return boxes, with how postponed import VAT, the reverse charge and Northern Ireland and EU goods affect them.VATVAT on goods between Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the EUVAT on goods under the Windsor Framework: XI VAT numbers, GB to NI sales and movements, NI to EU dispatches and acquisitions, and NI distance sales.VATThe VAT flat rate scheme and limited cost tradersWho can join the VAT flat rate scheme, when a business must leave, the 16.5% limited cost trader rate and the 2% and £1,000 test.

Accountin is opening to its first practices

Register your practice and we will contact you to set up your account.

Register your practice