When you’re importing goods from within the EU, you are able to access favourable conditions – but only if you can prove that your goods really did originate from an EU member state. You should have documentary evidence to demonstrate this, which needs to travel with your goods at all times.
The other possible scenario is that your imports originated outside of the EU, but are being shipped across EU country borders on their way to the UK. In this case, duty should have been paid at the point the goods first entered the EU. If this is the case with your business imports, then you should make sure that the proof of payment of initial import duty is always with your goods as they move across Europe.
If the goods you’re moving originate from within the EU, or have already had duty paid elsewhere in the EU, then they are EU acquisitions. They are described as being in ‘free circulation’ within the EU. In this case you don’t usually pay import duty, but you do still need to have a commodity code. This is used to categorise the type of goods, for tax and regulation purposes. You can check the commodity code that should be on your imports, using the trade tariff tool on the UK government website.
Usually you don’t need an import license to bring goods in from the EU, either. However, in some regulated areas, like firearms, this will be necessary.
If you are importing from within the EU, and the goods are in free circulation, then you still need to add their value to your VAT return. You pay VAT at UK rates for any imported goods which are VAT liable. This is currently 20%. However, under certain circumstances you can reclaim the VAT, for example if you’re importing business supplies.
If you’re importing services rather than goods, then VAT rules apply here too. You will need to include the VAT amount on your VAT return, although in most cases this is credited back. There are different rules for some types of services, such as transport, events and catering. The full details can be found on the UK Government website.