Guides / Postponed VAT accounting · Updated 30 September 2026

Postponed VAT accounting for first-time importers

Importing for the first time? Postponed VAT accounting can keep import VAT off the border and on your VAT Return. Here is who can use it, what to tell your agent and how to report it.

This guide is also available in Polish.

What postponed VAT accounting actually changes

When goods arrive in Great Britain from outside the UK, import VAT is normally due at the border before the goods are released. Postponed VAT accounting (often shortened to PVA) lets a VAT-registered business declare that import VAT on its VAT Return instead of paying it when the goods clear. In most cases the VAT you declare as due and the VAT you reclaim appear on the same return, so the cash never leaves your account at the point of import.

For a first-time importer this matters more than it sounds. Without it, you either pay import VAT up front or arrange for it to be paid through someone else's account and reclaimed later. With it, the paperwork moves from the border to your normal VAT cycle.

Who can use it

According to HMRC, you can account for import VAT on your VAT Return for goods you import into Great Britain from anywhere outside the UK, and into Northern Ireland from outside the UK and EU. The business must be registered for VAT in the UK.

• You do not need to apply for approval. HMRC states plainly that no authorisation is needed.
• The goods must be for business use. Goods imported only for non-business purposes are excluded unless they qualify under a VAT refund scheme.
• Using it is optional. HMRC's guidance notes that the procedure is no longer mandatory, so you can choose case by case.

Where it does not apply

HMRC lists several situations where PVA cannot be used:

• consignments at or below the low-value threshold (excise goods aside), which are handled under separate rules explained in our guide to low-value import VAT;
• goods delivered by Royal Mail Group, other than through its commercial services;
• commercial goods declared using the simplified online declaration route.

How to tell your customs agent

Most first-time importers do not file their own declaration on the Customs Declaration Service (CDS); an agent does it for them. PVA is not switched on automatically. The declaration must show your VAT registration number at header level in Data Element 3/40, and the import VAT is then recorded against your EORI number.

HMRC also says that if you use someone to deal with customs for you, they must have your written confirmation before they can proceed with the declaration using PVA. In practice that means:

1. Give the agent your EORI and VAT registration number together.
2. Confirm in writing, before the goods arrive, that you want import VAT accounted for on your VAT Return.
3. Check the finished declaration (or ask for a copy) to see that your VAT number is in Data Element 3/40.

If you are not sure how your agent will act for you, read up on direct representation: under direct representation you, the importer, remain liable for the declaration, while under indirect representation the agent becomes jointly liable with you.

Budget for the service as well as the tax. Before your first shipment, it is worth checking what customs clearance costs with Easy Clearance or with any other agent, so the agent's charges are not confused with the VAT itself, which is a matter between you and HMRC.

Where to find the monthly statement

HMRC does not send you a bill for postponed VAT. Instead, it publishes a monthly postponed import VAT statement, which you download from the Customs Declaration Service using your VAT registration sign-in details. Points to know:

• If you have never used CDS, you must subscribe to it first.
• Statements are usually available by the 10th working day of the month.
• You can access each statement online for only six months from publication, so download it and keep a copy in your records, as HMRC requires.
• In a VAT group, each member needs its own EORI number and retrieves its own statement.

This statement is your evidence for reclaiming import VAT under PVA. For how it compares with the C79 certificate used when VAT is paid at the border, see our separate guide to import VAT evidence: C79 and the PVA statement.

What to put on the VAT return

HMRC's guidance sets out three boxes:

Take the figures from the monthly statement. If a declaration was delayed and the statement is not yet available, HMRC says you must estimate the import VAT from your own records and adjust once the statement covering the delayed declaration arrives.

If you use the Flat Rate Scheme, do not include postponed import VAT in your flat rate turnover. HMRC says the VAT due on imports is added to Box 1 after you have completed your flat rate calculation.

If you are not VAT registered

PVA is only available to businesses registered for VAT in the UK. If you are not registered, you cannot account for import VAT on a VAT Return, so it has to be paid when the goods are imported, typically through your agent's arrangements, before the goods are released. Build that into your cash flow and your timeline; our guide to calculating import duty and VAT explains how the amount is worked out.

HMRC adds one more case: a non-established taxable person (a business without a UK establishment) cannot deal with this directly and must get someone to deal with customs on its behalf, making sure that person selects PVA for it.

A first-import checklist

• UK VAT registration and an EORI number in place
• CDS subscription set up so you can download statements
• Written instruction to your agent to use postponed VAT accounting
• VAT number shown in Data Element 3/40 on the declaration
• Statement downloaded and filed each month
• Boxes 1, 4 and 7 completed from the statement

Unsure whether you need an agent at all? Start with do you need a customs broker.

Related guides

• Import VAT evidence: C79 certificates vs postponed VAT statements

• UK VAT registration for EU businesses: when it is required

• EU sellers sending stock to UK fulfilment warehouses

Sources

• Check when you can account for import VAT on your VAT Return (GOV.UK)
• Get your postponed import VAT statement (GOV.UK)
• Complete your VAT Return to account for import VAT (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.