Setting Up A Bonded Warehouse

Solomon Grundy

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Morning. Bit of a niche question but has anyone set one of these up before? I might need to bring in some consignment material from the USA but dont really know what is involved. I have warehouse space which I can set aside for the stock. Any help would be great.
 
There's a really big LME bonded warehousing company on Earles Road in Hull who you might want to speak to, but forget about setting up yourself as its the very definition of a regulatory nightmare. :)
 
There's new legislation coming into effect 1st May which affects anyone using any sort of procedure that postpones the payment of duty and VAT on import, which a bonded warehouse does.
Here's some light reading for you.

Authorised Economic Operator - Detailed guidance - GOV.UK
The Union Customs Code - Detailed guidance - GOV.UK

Whether you want the burden of applying for and administrating a bonded warehouse entirely depends on how much saving you plan to make.
A growing number of tariff codes are duty free, these days, which only means VAT comes into play on import.
VAT which can be reclaimed.
My AEO application has been accepted, but it took a few attempts.
HMRC have a terrible habit of only looking at wrong answers on a step-by-step basis.
For example, if you get question 10 wrong they won't go any further and will just throw it back at you.
You correct that, then they reject it at question 15....repeat until finally accepted.
 
You can find information on HMRC's website Customs warehousing - Detailed guidance - GOV.UK You will need to demonstrate compliance with AEO standards or have an AEO certificate, which can take months. You will also render yourself liable to regular audits/further scrutiny from HMRC. Might be worth looking at the cost/effort of setting one up against the duty/VAT saved to see if it is worth it.
 
There's new legislation coming into effect 1st May which affects anyone using any sort of procedure that postpones the payment of duty and VAT on import, which a bonded warehouse does.
Here's some light reading for you.

Authorised Economic Operator - Detailed guidance - GOV.UK
The Union Customs Code - Detailed guidance - GOV.UK

Whether you want the burden of applying for and administrating a bonded warehouse entirely depends on how much saving you plan to make.
A growing number of tariff codes are duty free, these days, which only means VAT comes into play on import.
VAT which can be reclaimed.
My AEO application has been accepted, but it took a few attempts.
HMRC have a terrible habit of only looking at wrong answers on a step-by-step basis.
For example, if you get question 10 wrong they won't go any further and will just throw it back at you.
You correct that, then they reject it at question 15....repeat until finally accepted.
I might be able to bring in stock from the US on a consignment basis where they retain ownership until I sell it on their behalf. At which point I will buy it from them and declare for tax etc as though I had imported it. They want the stock out of their warehouse which is why I can't store it there until sold. It is too expensive for me to purchase in advance.
 

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