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United KingdomGOV.UK

Customs duties can become expenses after an insolvency appointment

HMRC’s insolvency handbook sets out checks on suspended duties, import VAT and stored goods, and tells practitioners to arrange new duty-deferment payments.

By Taxxa AI OyPublished 18 August 2026

Tax Legal & Corporate

Insolvency practitioners taking over an international trading business must check when suspended customs duties become payableGOV: HMRC’s insolvency handbook says duties suspended before insolvency but falling due afterwards are treated as post-administration debtsGOV. Incorrect handling or discharge of goods can also create a customs debt payable as an expense by the administrator or liquidator where its taxable point falls after insolvencyGOV.

The handbook gives the example of goods entering a customs warehouse before insolvency and leaving afterwards for free circulation. It says goods re-exported while under a special procedure, without release into the UK, do not create a UK taxable pointGOV. For import duty under the Great Britain free-circulation procedure, liability arises when HMRC accepts the declaration. Storage, transit and inward processing generally suspend liabilityLegislation, but lack of entitlement to the declaration or a breach of the procedure triggers itLegislation; authorised use and temporary admission have separate liability rules.

On appointment, practitioners must identify customs authorisationsGOV, notify the supervising officeGOV named on themGOV and review goods held under those arrangements. A full stocktake should establish imported goods, goods awaiting export, their locations, and duties paid or expected. Disposal must comply with the relevant authorisation or special procedureGOV. Practitioners intending to import and export after appointment must read about the Customs Declaration Service. They should also check what due diligence the company has carried out into its supply chains.

The checks extend to commodity codes, outstanding duties and import VAT. Practitioners must verify that postponed VAT accounting conditions are metGOV, that suspended import VAT is discharged or paid when requiredGOV, and that any relief conditions are satisfiedGOV. The handbook also requires payment of applicable anti-dumping and countervailing dutiesGOV. Underpayments may lead to a C18 post-clearance demand. Customs-duty records must be retained and maintained for at least four yearsGOV.

A duty-deferment account needs immediate attention: HMRC says the original Direct Debit arrangement is stopped on appointmentGOV, so the practitioner must discuss outstanding payments and agree a new payment arrangement with the duty-deferment team at cdoenquiries@hmrc.gov.ukGOV. This makes checking the account part of managing continued imports, alongside reviewing liabilities.

For a fulfilment house, practitioners must establish who owns stored goods, using invoices, shipping documents or a clear ownership chainGOV. Overseas sellers usually retain ownership; unpaid fees or a lien can affect whether goods may be seized or returned. The handbook requires continued supply-chain monitoring and due diligence, and notification to HMRC when the fulfilment house ceases tradingGOV. Separately, HMRC’s FHDDS guidance requires scheme records to be kept for six years, so the handbook’s four-year customs-record period should not be used for those records.

The relevant guidance is chapter 30 of HMRC’s Insolvency Practitioner’s Handbook and its FHDDS record-keeping guidance; the import-duty liability framework is in sections 3 and 4 of the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018Legislation.

On appointment, take a full stocktake of goods and duties, notify the supervising office and arrange duty-deferment payments with HMRC.

Sources