Guides / Polish business importing from the UK · Updated 30 September 2026

How a Polish business imports goods from a UK supplier

Buying stock from a British supplier is ordinary trade again, but since the UK left the EU every consignment crosses a customs border twice: out of Great Britain and into the European Union. This guide walks a Polish company through the sequence, from the identifiers it needs before ordering to the moment import VAT is accounted for.

This guide is also available in Polish.

Why a UK purchase is now an import

Goods bought from a supplier in England, Wales or Scotland are no longer an intra-Community acquisition. They leave the UK customs territory and enter the EU customs territory, so two sets of formalities apply: an export declaration on the British side and an import declaration on the Polish side. The EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) offers zero tariffs on qualifying goods, but the European Commission is clear that it does not remove customs formalities. The practical question for a Polish buyer is therefore not whether paperwork is needed, but who does which part and in what order.

Step 1: get an EU EORI number through PUESC

An EORI number identifies a business in its dealings with customs. According to the Polish tax administration, each entrepreneur may hold only one EORI number, and it is valid throughout the European Union. Polish businesses apply electronically on PUESC, the customs and tax e-services platform, and the application is handled by the Director of the Tax Administration Chamber in Poznań. You first need a PUESC account; the government business portal biznes.gov.pl describes the registration and signing options.

Do this before the first order ships. Without an EORI the import declaration cannot be lodged in your name, and the goods wait at the border or in a temporary storage facility while the gap is fixed.

Step 2: classify the goods

Every line on the invoice needs a commodity code. The UK supplier's exporter will use a UK code for the export declaration, and your import declaration will use the EU code (the Combined Nomenclature, extended to the TARIC code for EU measures). The first six digits are harmonised internationally, but the later digits and the measures attached to them can differ between the two tariffs, so do not simply copy the code from the British export paperwork. The code drives the duty rate, any licence or certificate requirements and the statistical data on the declaration.

Step 3: agree who makes the UK export declaration

On the UK side, HMRC's step-by-step guidance says a business exporting from Great Britain needs a GB EORI number, must classify its goods and must decide who will make the export declarations: the exporter can make them itself or hire someone to deal with customs. This is normally the seller's responsibility, but the Incoterms rule in your contract decides who organises and pays for each stage. Under an ex-works arrangement, for example, you may find yourself having to arrange the UK export through your own agent. Settle this in writing before the goods are collected.

• Commercial invoice showing seller, buyer, description, value, currency and Incoterms rule
• Packing list with weights and number of packages
• The seller's GB EORI and your PL EORI on the documents
• A statement on origin on the invoice, if the goods qualify as UK originating
• Any licences or certificates the commodity code requires

Step 4: choose how the goods travel

There are two common patterns. In the first, goods move under T1 transit from the UK to an inland customs office in Poland, and the import declaration is made there; this suits full loads going straight to your premises or to a customs agent near you. In the second, the goods are cleared into free circulation at the first EU point of entry, for example in France or the Netherlands, and then travel onwards within the single market. Transit requires a guarantee and a holder of the procedure, usually the haulier or its agent, so confirm with the carrier which route they are quoting before you book.

Step 5: the Polish import declaration

Import declarations in Poland are lodged electronically in the AIS/IMPORT PLUS system. Most businesses use a customs agent acting as a direct or indirect representative. With direct representation the importer remains the party liable for the customs debt; with indirect representation the agent acts in its own name and is jointly liable. The declaration pulls together the commodity codes, customs value, origin claim, transport details and the transit or arrival data.

Step 6: duty and the origin question

The TCA gives zero tariffs and zero quotas on all goods that comply with the appropriate rules of origin. "Made in the UK" is not the same as "originating": goods must be wholly obtained in the UK or EU, made exclusively from originating materials, or sufficiently processed under the product-specific rules. Goods the UK supplier merely bought in from China and resold do not qualify, and full third-country duty applies.

To claim the preference, the importer relies either on a statement on origin made by the exporter or on importer's knowledge, meaning supporting documents or records that show the product qualifies. The Commission notes that customs may later ask the importer to prove the claim, so keep the evidence. A single statement on origin can cover multiple shipments of identical products over a period set in the agreement.

Step 7: import VAT, pay or settle in the return

Import VAT is due on top of any duty. According to biznes.gov.pl, the default is to pay it to customs within 10 days of the customs authority informing you of the amount. An active VAT payer can instead settle import VAT in its VAT return under Article 33a of the Polish VAT Act, provided the customs declaration is made through a direct or indirect representative and the business gives the head of its customs and tax office certificates confirming no arrears of social security contributions and taxes, issued no earlier than six months before. The portal also warns that if the VAT is not reported in the correct return, there is a four-month window to correct it; after that the right to settle it this way is lost for that import and the tax becomes payable with interest.

Biznes.gov.pl further notes that changes to AIS/IMPORT PLUS separated simplified declarations from supplementary declarations, which affects which document number and date you reference in the VAT filing. Check this with your accountant if your agent uses simplified procedures.

Putting it together

If you want a Polish-side team to check your documents and confirm the import scenario before the lorry leaves, see this page on customs clearance for UK imports into Poland. For a sense of what each stage involves in practice, our guide to whether you need a broker is a useful next read.

Related guides

• Selling used machinery from the UK to Poland: customs, VAT and CE marking

• First business shipment from the UK to Poland: a step-by-step checklist

• Sending one or two pallets from Poland to the UK

Sources

• EORI (podatki.gov.pl)
• Rozliczanie VAT w imporcie towarów (biznes.gov.pl)
• EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (European Commission, Access2Markets)
• Export goods from the UK: step by step (GOV.UK)

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