Businesses should be fully prepared for new arrangements for parcels and freight moving from Great Britain (GB) to Northern Ireland (NI) by 31 March
Businesses sending business -to-business (B2B) parcels from Great Britain to Northern Ireland are required to provide information to their parcel carrier, and in certain cases, may need to pay duty (which can be reclaimed in certain situations).
The UK Internal Market Scheme (UKIMS) gives you access to move goods from a business in GB to a business in NI without the need for a full declaration and without incurring duty.
In order to use these simplified processes, you must:
- be authorised under UKIMS
- meet the criteria for moving goods under the simplified process for Internal Market Movements
If neither the sending or receiving business is UKIMS authorised, this movement will be subject to additional requirements and ‘at risk’ duties may be calculated and charged. You will need to check the specific arrangements with their fast parcel operator.
Please be aware that this does not apply for business-to-consumer (B2C) or consumer-to-business parcel movements.
If you make B2B parcels movements, either you or your parcel recipient will need to check eligibility to apply for the UK Internal Market Scheme (UKIMS). If you haven’t already applied for this, please go to Apply for authorisation for the UK Internal Market Scheme if you bring goods into Northern Ireland – GOV.UK where you can:
- find out how to apply for UKIMS authorisation and the requirements you will need to meet
- read the statutory guidance for businesses sending parcels to Northern Ireland
Resources to help you fully prepare
HMRC has published a new Windsor Framework resource page on GOV.UK. You can use the resources on this page to fully prepare for the new business to business (B2B) parcels arrangements.
Visit here Communications resources to help you move goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland – GOV.UK to help you move goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. In addition to the resources currently available, HMRC will soon add a short video to explain the new B2B post and parcels arrangements. HMRC will continue to develop and refresh the pages so do keep checking back in regularly to see what’s new!
If you need any assistance with this, please contact us.