Guides / Moving to the UK: ToR1 relief · Updated 30 September 2026

Moving to the UK from Poland: transfer of residence relief (ToR1)

If you are moving your home from Poland or elsewhere in the EU to Great Britain, Transfer of Residence relief can let your belongings enter free of customs duty and import VAT. This guide explains the conditions, deadlines and paperwork, based on GOV.UK guidance.

This guide is also available in Polish.

What transfer of residence relief is

Transfer of Residence (ToR) relief lets you bring your existing personal and household belongings into the UK without paying customs duty or import VAT when you move your normal home here from abroad. It works in one direction only: it is a UK relief for people arriving to live in the UK. If you are moving from Poland or another EU country to Great Britain, this is the relief to look at. People going the other way, from the UK to Poland, need to follow Polish rules instead.

The relief is not automatic. You apply to HMRC on form ToR1, and the approval is then quoted on the import declaration. Without it, your goods are treated as an ordinary import and the normal customs duty and VAT apply.

Who qualifies

GOV.UK sets out two core conditions:

Residence. You must have lived outside the UK for at least 12 consecutive months before the date you move.
Ownership and use. You must have owned and used the goods for at least 6 months before moving to the UK.

The relief is for private individuals and their personal property. It is not available to companies or organisations moving assets. Two groups follow a different route. Students coming to the UK to study do not complete a ToR1; their belongings are declared under customs procedure code 40 00 C06, with evidence of study. People moving because of a marriage or civil partnership also skip the ToR1 and use one of the codes 40 00 C02, C03, C60 or C61; the 6-month ownership rule does not apply to them, GOV.UK limits the value of each wedding gift to £900, and goods can be imported up to 4 months after the ceremony.

A note on Northern Ireland: if you are moving from the EU to Northern Ireland, ToR relief is not needed, because goods move freely between the EU and Northern Ireland. The relief covers moves to Great Britain from anywhere, and moves to Northern Ireland from outside the EU.

What goods are covered

The relief covers the ordinary contents of a household and a private life:

household and personal effects, furniture and furnishings
bicycles, motorcycles and private motor vehicles, including camping caravans
pleasure craft
household pets
portable instruments you need for your trade or profession
household provisions

Excluded are alcoholic drinks, tobacco and tobacco products, commercial means of transport, and professional instruments that are not portable. If you ship alcohol or tobacco with your removal, excise duty is payable on it, whatever happens to the rest of the load.

Time limits you need to plan around

Rule	What GOV.UK says
Living abroad before the move	At least 12 consecutive months outside the UK
Owning and using the goods	At least 6 months before moving
When to apply	Before the goods are shipped
Bringing the goods in	Within 12 months of coming to live in the UK
After import	No lending, hiring out, using as security or transferring to another person for 12 months

The 12-month import window is what makes a staged move possible: you can bring part of your belongings with you and send the rest later, as long as everything arrives within that period and is covered by your approval.

The 12-month restriction after import matters. If you sell, lend, hire out or give away relieved goods (a car is the usual example) within 12 months, the relief conditions are broken and duty and VAT can become payable.

How to apply before you move

The ToR1 is made online and should be completed before your goods are shipped. According to the HMRC guidance on the form, you will need:

a list of your goods, grouped by category rather than item by item
the photo page of your passport
proof of your UK address, such as a bank statement, utility bill or tenancy agreement dated within the last 3 months
proof of your address outside the UK dated within the last 6 months
animal health certificates or pet passports for each animal
for each vehicle: year, make, model, VIN or chassis number, registration number and its issue date, and purchase date

Bicycles only need to appear on the list; they do not need the full vehicle details. Once submitted, an application cannot be amended, although additions can be made to an approved application, which is useful if you remember goods for a later shipment. If you miss the chance to apply before shipping, GOV.UK says a late claim is possible, but you would pay first and reclaim duty afterwards using form C285 or C82.

For a fuller walkthrough of each screen of the form, see this step-by-step ToR1 walkthrough for UK movers.

What happens at the border

How the goods are declared depends on how they travel:

Travelling with your goods (for example driving your own van or car from Poland): GOV.UK says an oral declaration, or a declaration by conduct, can be used.
Goods shipped by a removal company or carrier: you give your ToR reference to the removal firm or customs agent, who makes the import declaration in CDS using customs procedure code 40 00 C01. HMRC's guidance says household items are declared under a single commodity code from Chapter 99 of the UK tariff, so you do not need to classify every box.

If an agent submits the declaration for you, it matters whether they act as a direct or indirect representative: under direct representation you, as importer, are liable for the declaration; under indirect representation the agent is jointly liable. Goods that do not meet the relief conditions are charged customs duty and VAT as normal, and GOV.UK warns that duty and tax owed must be paid before you can collect your belongings. Breaking the rules can lead to goods, and the vehicle carrying them, being seized. If you are unsure whether you need help at all, our page on whether you need a customs broker sets out the options.

Bringing a car or motorcycle

Private vehicles can be included in ToR relief if you meet the same residence and 6-month ownership conditions and list the vehicle details in your ToR1. The relief deals with duty and VAT, but it does not replace the vehicle formalities. GOV.UK requires a Notification of Vehicle Arrivals (NOVA) within 14 days of the vehicle arriving, alongside the import declaration. You then need to show the vehicle meets UK safety and environmental standards (approval) and register it with DVLA, which issues a UK registration number for your plates. Our separate guide to importing a vehicle into the UK from the EU covers those steps in more detail.

Remember the 12-month rule: a car imported under ToR relief should not be sold, lent or hired out in its first year in the UK.

A short planning checklist

Confirm you have lived outside the UK for 12 consecutive months.
Separate goods you have owned for under 6 months, plus any alcohol and tobacco; these do not qualify.
Gather UK and non-UK address evidence within the date limits.
Submit the ToR1 before anything is shipped and share the reference with your removal firm.
Plan later shipments to arrive within 12 months of your move.
For vehicles, diarise the 14-day NOVA deadline.

Related guides

Need help with a removal to the UK?

Easy Clearance is a UK–EU customs clearance agency handling import and export declarations, T1/T2 transit and UK–Poland removals, including ToR-based imports.

Read the ToR1 guide on Easy Clearance

Sources

General information, not legal, tax or customs advice. Rules change; confirm current requirements on gov.uk or with a registered agent before you ship.