Exporting to the UK: Costs and Consequences
By Rafael Paulo Krüger · Customs Expert & CEO
Export declaration, UK import duties and customs duty: what exporters should budget for when shipping to the UK — and where preferential origin saves.
An electronics supplier in the Rhineland had delivered to a customer in London for years. After Brexit the first shipment seemed to go through smoothly — until, weeks later, a back-claim arrived from the German tax office: 19% VAT, because the exit confirmation proving the export to a third country was missing. You avoid surprises like this by knowing the costs of a UK export from the outset and separating them cleanly.
Cost components at a glance
Shipping to Great Britain incurs costs at two borders. It helps to keep them clearly apart:
- EU side: the export declaration in Germany — with us, at a fixed price.
- UK side: the actual import charges (British customs duty and import VAT) plus the customs clearance fee of the forwarder or customs agent on the UK side.
Anyone who looks at the two sides separately avoids the typical surprise: the EU-side declaration is modest, while the UK charges and the clearance fee often make up the larger share.
EU side: export declaration / ABD
Since Brexit, the United Kingdom is a third country from the EU’s perspective. Every commercial shipment therefore needs an electronic export declaration in the ATLAS system. From it, the Export Accompanying Document (ABD) is produced, which travels with the shipment to the customs office of exit. Why a former routine delivery turned overnight into a full third-country export is something we explain in our article on exporting to the UK after Brexit.
With us, an export declaration starts at €25 per declaration. The base price includes one tariff line (commodity code); each additional line costs €5. Prices are net, plus statutory VAT. A shipment with a single commodity code is therefore covered by €30, while a mixed pallet with several commodity codes costs correspondingly more. You will find the full overview on our pricing page.
When 0% duty applies (preferential origin)
The Trade and Cooperation Agreement applies between the EU and the United Kingdom. For goods that meet the rules of origin, the British import duty falls to 0%. Unlike many other agreements, a statement on origin by the exporter on the invoice is sufficient here — a self-certification, not an officially issued movement certificate.
Two points are decisive here:
- Proof of preference removes only the import customs duty, not the import VAT. The 20% import VAT therefore applies even to originating goods.
- If the goods do not meet the rules of origin, the standard duty under the UK Global Tariff is charged — even though the agreement applies in principle. Correct proof of origin is therefore worth real money.
Conclusion
Exporting to Great Britain does not cost “a” single fee; it is made up of several items: the EU-side export declaration, the British import duty, the 20% import VAT, and the clearance fee of the customs agent.
Anyone who properly proves preferential origin pushes the duty down to 0% — but the import VAT remains and is usually the British importer’s responsibility.
For a full overview of the process, the obligations and our support with UK exports, see our page Exporting to the UK. There we guide you from the export declaration through to the proof of origin.