Import Solutions

Any high value asset that crosses a customs frontier must be imported or entered into a special customs procedure.

For a UK imported aircraft a declaration will have already been made to the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) department. This means that any taxes that were due would already have been paid, these include customs duty and VAT.

Customs duty remains at 0% for civilian aircraft. In the UK however, the VAT rate is 20% on the value of the aircraft.

An aircraft will be presented with three scenarios:

• either the aircraft is already imported and has paid the 20% VAT,
• or the aircraft needs to be imported and is required to pay VAT,
• or the aircraft is eligible for a special customs procedure and therefore does not need to pay VAT at that time.

When assessing the UK customs status of an aircraft an owner may instead consider temporary admission (TA), a popular alternative to a full importation. TA enables non local residents to enter a foreign territory for a short period of time.

In this case there are no VAT charges, however there are specific requirements that must be complied with. For example, the aircraft should not be used to compete commercially with other aircraft that have paid VAT in the territory. The aircraft registration, the aircraft owner, and the aircraft user cannot be locally resident.

A resident user is a difficult term to define as it can be determined through a multitude of factors. Usually, a UK resident either lives in the UK, holds a UK passport, is a tax resident, or has business or family connections in the territory. A user is typically described as the person who actively utilises the aircraft and decides its destination.