HMRC Funds Available For Customs Declaring Firms

Does your business complete customs declarations?

Local firms are advised to explore the HMRC funding available to them for recruitment, training and IT improvements.

The three grants are available for companies that complete customs declarations, with additional money available for customs intermediaries that:

• are hiring new staff to help complete customs declarations

• require IT improvements to help make the process more efficient

To apply for the grant, your business must:

• be established in, or have a branch in the UK when the grant is paid to you

• not have previously failed to meet its tax obligations – HMRC records will be checked.

You can apply for just one of the grants, or all of them.

1) Recruitment grant -up to £3,000 for each employee.

Eligible firms must:

• currently complete customs declarations on behalf of importers and exporters

• have been established in the UK for at least 12 months.

You must use the funding to cover the recruitment and salary costs of new employees from 01 October 2019, who will help your business complete customs declarations.

Companies could also get up to £10,000 for any employee recruited before 31 January 2021, to cover up to three months' salary.

2) Training grant

This covers up to 100% of the cost of training employees, up to a limit of £2,250 for each course.

Available for firms that:

• complete customs declarations for yourself or someone else (or intend to in the future)

• import from, or export to the EU and complete customs declarations (or intend to complete customs declarations in the future).

The training must give you or your employees the skills to:

• complete customs declarations

• carry out customs processes – this can include relevant training in safety and security

• help other businesses with import and export processes.

The training does not have to lead to a formal qualification, however it cannot be used for the following:

• towards the existing costs of current training

• for other unrelated training.

You can also use the grant to reimburse what your business has spent on relevant training since 31 July 2019.

3) IT improvements grant

This covers 100% of the costs relating to your IT expenditure to improve the efficiency of making customs declarations.

To apply for the IT improvements grant, your business must:

• currently complete customs declarations for importers and exporters

• have 250 employees or fewer

• have an annual turnover of less than €50 million.

You must use the funding to buy software that will help your business to complete customs declarations more efficiently. It must be a ready-made solution - you cannot use the funding to commission bespoke software.

You can also use the funding to:

• buy hardware needed for the software to run

• install and configure the software and hardware

• buy the first year licence

• train employees to use the software.

You cannot use the funding for unrelated networking costs, but can use it to reimburse what your business has spent on relevant IT improvements since 31 July 2019.



Applications for all of the above will close on 31 January 2021. Companies can apply for HMRC customs support online.