If you import goods regularly, you can apply for a duty deferment account to delay paying most customs or tax charges, for example:

You can also apply to delay paying duties on goods released from an excise warehouse.

A duty deferment account lets the importer (or someone who represents them) make one payment a month through Direct Debit instead of paying for individual consignments.

Anyone can apply for a duty deferment account to pay import duties in Great Britain.

You can apply for a guarantee waiver approval with your duty deferment account application. Find out about guarantee waivers. You (or the business you’re acting on behalf of) must be established in the UK for customs to be eligible for a guarantee waiver.

To complete your application you’ll need your business’s:

If you apply for a guarantee waiver you may also need:

If you want to defer Customs Duty, excise duty and import VAT you must follow these steps.

If you’re not applying for, or have not received a guarantee waiver approval, you’ll need to provide a guarantee from a financial institution that’s both:

Check the Bank of England website to find out which firms the PRA regulates.

You should not submit a guarantee unless we ask you to provide one after you have applied for a duty deferment account.

This application applies to any excise duty deferred at importation or released from an excise warehouse.

You can also still use the excise payment security system for duty deferment that is not part of importation or releasing goods from an excise warehouse.

You can apply to defer import VAT if you’re a trader who is either:

You do not need to apply for a deferment account to defer import VAT if you’re using postponed VAT accounting for imports.

You’ll need to tell HMRC more information about your finances if you:

Authorised economic operators for customs do not need to upload a PFS1 form.

You’ll need to provide additional information about your finances using the PFS1 form and provide supporting documents with your application.

Authorised economic operators for customs do not need to upload a PFS1.

Find out more about the supporting documents you need to provide when you tell HMRC more information about your finances.

When we have all the information to process your application, we’ll aim to complete this within 30 working days. If you need to apply for a financial guarantee, this may take longer.

If your application is approved you’ll get a deferment approval number. You’ll need to use this to fill in your Direct Debit Instruction.

You’ll need to provide your Direct Debit Instruction to make the account active even if you’re not actually intending to use your duty deferment account immediately.

If there’s a gap between your requested deferral limit and the amount of guarantee waiver you qualify for, we’ll advise you of your options to:

If we do not get a reply from you in 30 days, we may reject your application.

If your application is rejected we’ll inform you of your right to request a review or appeal the decision.

You can set up or view an authority on the Customs Declaration Service.

Find out how you can cancel or amend your account by using an online form.

Find out more information about how to use your duty deferment account.

Published 29 October 2020

Last updated 31 March 2025 show all updates