Some companies used my EORI for customs clearance

Dear Sir/Madam, Some companies used my EORI for customs clearance, what should I do? Are there any good measures to avoid this happen?

Hi William Wu,
 As a trader you will need to raise this with the users directly as it is a third party dispute.
However, non-compliance and fraudulent activities can be reported by using below link.
What you need to know
Thank you. 


 

I would go back to whoever prepared the customs entry and ask for the declaration to be changed. It can happen that your EORI can be used accidentally . If these are parcels through a courier for instance it can happen that incorrect company info is picked up from their database particularly if your company name is similar to another client. If however someone else is providing your EORI number fraudulently then you need to follow HMRCs advice above.

Hi, When I submit our return, do I need to including the postponed import VAT who use my EORI for customs clearance wihout my permission?

Hi William Wu,
If the imported goods have not been made by you then they would not be reported on your VAT return.
You would need to investigate who is using your EORI number without your permission and contact the shipping agent.
Thank you. 
 

If you don't investigate with the agent and have the imports corrected, the risk is that whoever is using your EORI number is doing so on purpose to avoid having to pay import VAT. If it is a one-off situation then probably no harm but if you continue to see repeated use of your EORI by other traders, you must get this resolved else during a VAT inspection, HMRC may attribute those imports to you - and the knock on effect of that is HMRC could accuse you of understating your own sales. For example, if you import £1,000 goods into UK, you postpone £200 VAT and declare this on your VAT return and you make sales of those goods for say £2,000 but your postponed import statement shows you importing £10,000 of goods of which you say only £1,000 belongs to you - and HMRC could ask "if you imported £10,000 of goods, why are you only showing £2,000 of sales on your VAT return....are you hiding some of your sales?" HMRC are correct in that you don't report these transactions on your VAT return, but equally, don't do nothing, don't just ignore it, this needs fixing.

The question which is being asked here is how can I show that my VAT or EORI number has been mis-used, then what can I do about it? The C79 and postponed VAT accounting is only accounting for transactions where there is a VAT-able liability at the reduced (ie 5%) or standard (20%) rates. A zero-rate transaction will not be reflected on the VAT account, but it could be going on. Zero-rate is a tax-rate and the goods are taxable. As a result trade figures will go un(der)reported and the offending business could be supplying sub-standard products to their customers, thus performing a fraud. Similarly, businesses should be able to obtain a record of all transactions which are made by them for audit purposes. So, is there a way in which a business can secure a record of all transactions made using its EORI and/or VAT registration number, irrespective of whether there is a taxable liability or not?

Hi,

We would recommend speaking to our fraud department regarding this:

Report tax fraud or avoidance to HMRC

Thank you.

Hi, Is there a way to set up an automated alert for when my EORI number is used. This way I can then check what was being shipped and investigate if it is not relevant to and activity we are undertaking. Thanks,

Hi ,
 

Unfortunately there is no such alert service available to notify traders when their EORI is used for imports/exports .

Thank you .