Underpaid import duties surge over past year

Large UK businesses are suspected of underpaying more than £25.3m in import taxes between 5 April 2021 and 5 April 2022 – up from just £620 000 in the previous financial year – according to information obtained by Pinsent Masons. The jump in the figure which is referred to by officials as ‘tax under consideration’ comes after the government introduced a new ‘rules of origin’ regime.

The change means that any goods imported into the UK from the EU that do not wholly or largely originate from the EU will attract customs duties when they enter the country. UK firms importing car engines manufactured in France for example now face import taxes if the engines contain components made in China.

Steven Porter partner at Pinsent Masons said: ‘The amount of tax HMRC thinks big businesses are underpaying so far on EU imports...