Guides / Regime 42 eligibility · Updated 19 October 2026

What is Regime 42? An eligibility checklist before you claim it

Regime 42 EU VAT relief lets an importer bring goods into one EU member state without paying import VAT there, provided the goods move straight on to a buyer in another member state. The mechanics are explained elsewhere; this guide is the checklist to run before you assume you qualify, because each condition below can quietly disqualify a shipment.

If you are asking what is Regime 42 for the first time, the short version is that it is a VAT exemption on import, not a duty exemption and not a general discount. It exists because the onward movement is itself treated as an exempt intra-Community supply, so VAT is collected once, in the country where the goods actually end up, instead of twice. That single fact drives every condition below: the relief depends entirely on there being a genuine, provable onward supply. Take away the onward supply and there is nothing left to exempt.

The EU-side checklist: do you qualify for procedure 42 in an EU country

The European Commission's own list of VAT exemptions sets out what the importer must hold at the moment of import to use procedure 42 in any member state. Run your shipment against these three requirements before you rely on the relief:

Your own VAT number in the import country. You need a VAT identification number issued in the member state of import, or the VAT number of a tax representative established there.
Your customer's VAT number in the destination country. You must provide the VAT identification number of the buyer in the other member state (or, for a transfer of your own goods, your own VAT number in the destination state).
Proof the goods are actually going onward. You must be able to show that the imported goods are intended to be transported or dispatched from the import country to another member state.

Polish tax guidance on podatki.gov.pl applies the same logic to the onward leg itself, which it treats as an intra-Community supply (WDT). For that onward supply to carry the 0% rate, three further conditions have to be met: the buyer holds a valid EU VAT number with the correct country prefix and has given it to you; you hold documents that unambiguously confirm the goods left the import country for the buyer, such as carrier transport documents plus supporting evidence like orders or invoices; and you are yourself registered as an EU VAT taxpayer at the time you report the supply. Fail any one of these three and the onward supply is taxable, which in turn undermines the basis for the import exemption.

Great Britain is not in scope: the UK version only covers Northern Ireland

This is where UK-based traders most often go wrong. There is no general Regime 42 EU VAT relief for imports into Great Britain. The UK equivalent, which HMRC calls Onward Supply Relief, applies only to goods imported into Northern Ireland for onward supply to the EU. If your goods clear at a Great Britain port and never touch Northern Ireland, this relief is not available to you at all, however the paperwork is structured.

HMRC's eligibility conditions for Onward Supply Relief

For the Northern Ireland route, HMRC's published conditions are specific and worth checking one by one before you plan around the relief:

You are UK VAT-registered and identified as a business in Northern Ireland.
The goods are imported into Northern Ireland from Great Britain or from outside the EU, for onward supply to the final EU destination country.
The goods sent out of Northern Ireland match what was imported; they cannot be processed or modified in any way.
The goods are despatched within one month of import, unless you have applied to HMRC's National Import Reliefs Unit for an extension.
You comply with all the normal obligations of someone making a zero-rated supply.
The correct procedure code is used on the customs declaration, or HMRC says your claim may be refused.

Agents have an extra test. HMRC will only accept a claim from an agent where the agent is the importer, meaning it submitted the import declaration in its own name, and it also acts in its own name for the onward supply. HMRC does not treat an agent as acting in its own name where the sale contract is between the seller and the buyer directly, where the purchase invoice is issued in the seller's name, or where the agent tells the buyer it is acting for a named seller. A freight forwarder simply handling the paperwork on your behalf will not meet this test.

What you must declare and keep as evidence

HMRC's guidance on claiming the relief sets out exactly what goes on the declaration: your VAT number starting with XI, entered against FR1 if you are the importer or FR3 if you are an agent; the EU purchaser's VAT number against FR2, along with their name, address and VAT number; and the expected place and date of onward dispatch together with the transport particulars. You also need an XI EORI number and access to the Customs Declaration Service to submit it. Afterwards, HMRC expects the onward sale to appear on your EC Sales List and the EU trade figures to be recorded on your VAT Return. If the conditions above are not actually met, HMRC's own guidance is blunt about the consequence: it will issue a C18 demand for the import VAT that was relieved.

None of this checklist tells you how the declaration is physically structured, the VAT Directive basis for the exemption, or how the mechanics play out when goods clear through Poland specifically. For that explanation, see our separate guide to how Regime 42 / Procedure 42 works. This page exists to answer the narrower question of whether your own shipment actually qualifies.

Common reasons the relief gets refused

Across both the EU and UK versions, the same handful of gaps account for most refusals: the buyer's VAT number is invalid or was never checked in VIES before the goods moved; the transport evidence proving the onward journey is missing or only arrives after the fact; the goods sat in the import country for longer than the window allowed; or the party claiming the relief turns out not to be the actual importer of record. None of these are paperwork technicalities you can fix after a customs audit starts — they are preconditions that have to be true before the goods cross the border. If you are new to cross-border VAT and customs representation generally, our do you need a customs broker guide and our explanation of customs procedure codes are useful starting points before you commit to a procedure-42 structure.

Quick self-check

Do you (or your tax representative) hold a VAT number in the country of import, right now, not pending registration?
Have you checked your buyer's VAT number in VIES and kept the result on file?
Do you already have, or can you get before the goods arrive, transport documents proving the onward journey?
If this is the UK/Northern Ireland route, are you the actual importer of record, not just the party paying the invoice?
Can the onward supply genuinely happen inside the time limit, without the goods being processed first?

If you answered no to any of these, treat the relief as not available yet, rather than assuming your agent can make it work retroactively.

Related guides

Need the declaration itself explained?

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

Read the Easy Clearance Regime 42 guide

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.