How VAT will apply to goods moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Import VAT may apply to goods that enter Northern Ireland from Great Britain

The Windsor Framework​ ensures that ​Northern Ireland ​benefits from the same VAT rules as ​the​ rest of the United Kingdom while aligning with certain EU VAT rules on goods. ​Northern Ireland is, and will remain, part of the UK’s VAT system.  

Import VAT ​​may ​apply to goods that enter Northern Ireland from Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales). The same will also broadly apply to goods entering Great Britain from Northern Ireland.​     ​  

​​​For the majority of movements by individuals and non-VAT-registered businesses, no action is required.   

HMRC ​is ​​​responsible for the operation of VAT and collection of revenues in Northern Ireland.  

​​This guidance sets out how VAT ​works​​​ for individuals and non-VAT-registered businesses moving goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland​.

If you travel with goods by air or sea between Great Britain and Northern Ireland

If you carry goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland by commercial sea or air transports, in most cases, no VAT will be due.

When you’ll have to account for import VAT

You’ll need to account for import VAT on goods, including personal possessions, that both:

• did not incur VAT of an equivalent value at the original point of purchase
• total more than £390 in value

If you send goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland

If you’re an individual sending goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, in most cases, no VAT will be due.

When you’ll have to account for import VAT

You’ll need to account for import VAT where goods being sent both:

• did not incur VAT of an equivalent value when the sender originally purchased the goods from a non-VAT-registered business
• are valued under the gift relief threshold of £39 — this only applies to goods sent by individuals

The sender will be required to account for the import VAT on these goods.

Find out how to account for the import VAT.

Unregistered businesses carrying commercial goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland

If you carry commercial goods for trade or business use from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, in most cases, no VAT will be due.

When you’ll have to account for import VAT

You’ll need to account for import VAT where either:

• goods were originally purchased from a non-VAT-registered business
• goods have been made from materials that cost less than the value of the final product, for example, where the sender has built a musical instrument or ornament

Where the goods are carried by a VAT-registered business, the import VAT should be declared and reclaimed through the business’s VAT return, resulting in a nil net tax effect. Businesses should document such movements in their own records as evidence that they have accounted for them correctly.

Find out how to account for import VAT.

VAT Retail Export Scheme

The VAT Retail Export Scheme Northern Ireland (RESNI) allows retailers to offer refunds of VAT on goods to visitors who are resident outside the EU and Northern Ireland where those goods are taken away in the visitor’s personal luggage when they leave.

Northern Ireland retailers that choose to operate the scheme, may continue to do so.

The VAT Retail Export Scheme is not available in Great Britain.

Check VAT Notice 704 Retail Export Scheme (Northern Ireland) for the conditions for visitors making a claim for a refund of VAT.

Additional conditions apply where goods purchased in Northern Ireland are subsequently removed to Great Britain.

When import VAT will be due

Where goods purchased under RESNI are removed directly from Northern Ireland to Great Britain (including via an EU Member State) and a VAT refund claim is made, import VAT must also be accounted for in Great Britain. There are no personal allowances available for goods moved from Northern Ireland to Great Britain in these circumstances. 

Where a visitor removes goods to Great Britain and submits RESNI claim to the retailer, the retailer must account for the import VAT due in Great Britain and include it on their VAT return at the same time as processing the RESNI claim. As the amount of import VAT due is equal to the amount of VAT that would otherwise be refundable under the scheme, no refund will be payable. 

Where a visitor leaves Northern Ireland for a destination outside both the UK and the EU, there is no requirement to provide evidence that the goods have been declared to the authorities in the destination country, or that any import duties or taxes due there have been paid. However, retailers must still obtain a validly endorsed VAT407(NI) claim form before processing a RESNI claim.

When VAT will not be due 

Where goods purchased in Northern Ireland are brought into Great Britain and no RESNI claim is made, no further VAT is due because UK VAT has already been charged on the original sale.

Generally, visitors to Northern Ireland will return home via hub airports in Great Britain. Some airports offer interlining flights which means baggage is checked through to the final destination as hold baggage. Upon arrival in Great Britain the baggage is transferred from the incoming aircraft to one leaving the EU, directly by the airline. If the goods travel in this way, they are considered exported directly to the final destination.

Personal reliefs for permanently imported goods

VAT will be relieved on these movements of goods if your goods are permanently moved between Great Britain and Northern Ireland for any of the following reasons:

• change of residence
• marriage
• students studying
• honorary awards or decorations

• inheritance