C285 / CDS repayment
Where duty was paid and the legal conditions are met, a controlled C285 or CDS repayment route can proceed after human sign-off.
Customs · Import VAT
Import VAT is not a side-note on the duty claim.
VAT status, postponed VAT accounting and the distinction between a C285 and a VAT return adjustment sit inside the same case as the declaration. Munire Customs Cloud treats import VAT as a first-class recovery and assurance question — not a sentence at the bottom of a duty page.
01 / The split
Duty and import VAT travel together. They do not recover together.
A declaration line can carry both customs duty and import VAT. The facts are shared. The recovery route often is not. VAT-registered businesses generally adjust import VAT on the VAT return; duty overpayments follow C285 or CDS. The workspace keeps both amounts, both clocks and both conclusions visible.
Return or repayment, depending on status
VAT-registered importers are typically directed to the VAT return. Unregistered importers may have a different repayment path. Confirm the current HMRC position before action.
Postponed VAT accounting
Accounted import VAT is not the same as cash paid at the frontier. The application records how VAT was accounted so a claim cannot invent a cash recovery that never existed.
02 / Inside the case
Keep VAT in the same record as the declaration.
Import VAT work inherits the same gates as duty: client, EORI, authority, paid or accounted amount, evidence and named review. A flag on VAT is still decision support.
Paid versus accounted
Show declared import VAT, whether it was paid or postponed, and the resulting difference before a recovery path is offered.
VAT registration changes the route
Record VAT registration status on the client so the workspace does not push a C285 where a return adjustment is the correct next step.
Invoices, VAT numbers, treatments
Connect commercial invoices, VAT identity and declaration treatment to the finding — not a detached VAT folder.
VAT time limits are not the duty clock
Limitation awareness sits on the case. Duty’s three-year window is not assumed to be the VAT position.
03 / For the firm
Advise on VAT without mixing the money.
Firm billing remains your professional fees. Munire does not take a percentage of duty or VAT recoveries. HMRC repayments stay between HMRC and the entitled recipient.