Customs Audit and Penalties. Making a customs declaration is only one part of a comprehensive and Revenue compliant customs declarations process. All declaration procedures, declarations, filing and data storage are subject to Revenue audit at any time. Should a declarant’s company perform poorly during an audit then they are liable to incur fines ranging from nominal to punitive.
Penalties:
• Failure to submit a declaration (penalty €2,000)
• Late submission of a declaration (penalty €250 for each month for which a declaration is outstanding, subject to a max.
• Submission of an incorrect or incomplete declaration (penalty of €250)
• Not being in possession of documentation necessary to support an electronic declaration (penalty of €250)
• Failure to comply with any other provision of the Union Customs Code (penalty €250)
It is imperative that an in-house administration team or a customs broker have Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that protect them and their data, sufficiently.
When a trader makes the decision to bring customs declarations processing in-house there are many training options they can avail of. Skillnet Ireland offer a 5-day Clear Customs training course that gives trainees the tools to proceed with new work tasks, professionally. More information is available on this course here. This is a free course but places are limited.
Revenue have outlined how to be compliant and this information can be found at Custran:
Customs Audit and Penalties – How to prepare for a customs audit?
Customs declaration data must be retained along with commercial records and various licences. If Revenue want to inspect a company’s compliance, they may first conduct internal aspect queries without that company’s knowledge. If they wish to pursue their enquires, then Revenue will provide three weeks’ notice in writing to the company before a full customs audit. During the audit Revenue will require full cooperation from you and will expect full access to shipment documentation. More information on what needs to be made available to an auditor can be found in this article.
The most important aspect of customs compliance from the trader’s point of view is the fact that even if a customs broker is processing declarations on your behalf you the trader are still liable for mistakes or underpayment of VAT and duties that may occur. If you have any further queries on Customs procedures contact Custran here or contact Revenue.
