Customs · Methodology
How Munire Customs analyses declarations.
What data the software uses, how it checks it, how amounts are worked out, and where a person must decide. Written so you can test our claims, including the limits.
Last reviewed 25 October 2026. Published by Miamy Ltd, trading as Munire. Reference material, not legal or tax advice.
01 / Scope
What this page covers.
Munire Customs is post-clearance software for UK importers, customs intermediaries and professional advisers. It reviews customs declaration data after goods have cleared, to find possible overpaid or underpaid duty and import VAT, to keep the evidence, and to prepare claims or disclosures for a named person to review.
This page describes the method. It does not describe HMRC’s legal route, which HMRC owns and can change. For that, use the primary sources listed at the end.
02 / Data sources
Where the facts come from, and how they stay separate.
Munire works from declaration data that originates in the Customs Declaration Service (CDS). The data reaches the software in one of two ways:
- Imported files. CDS declaration data exported by the importer, their intermediary or their software.
- HMRC connection. Declaration data read from HMRC after the trader has authorised access through HMRC’s own sign-in and consent screen. The trader can withdraw that authorisation with HMRC at any time.
Each fact keeps its source. Imported declaration facts are held separately from analysis, conclusions and anything typed in by hand, so a reviewer can always tell what came from the declaration and what was added later. Records that cannot be matched to an authorised client and importer EORI stay visibly unmatched and cannot enter analysis.
03 / Analysis
Repeatable checks that show their working.
Rules run over each declaration and line and flag items that deserve a look. The checks cover classification, origin and preference, customs valuation, duty, import VAT, procedure use and the arithmetic consistency of the declaration itself.
- Every flag shows the rule that fired and the declaration facts behind it, so the output can be challenged rather than trusted as a score.
- Ratings indicate relative priority for review. They are not a prediction that a claim will succeed, and a flag is not a finding.
- The same data produces the same flags. Rules are written as explicit checks, not as an opaque model that changes its answer from run to run.
Optional assistant features may help a user find or explain information. Their output is decision support and has no authority to conclude, claim or submit anything.
04 / Investigation
From a flag to an evidenced finding, or no finding.
A reviewer works from the actual declaration: the MRN, line, commodity, customs value, origin, procedure, duty and import VAT. They check it against the commercial documents and the applicable customs position, then record a conclusion that is positive, negative or unresolved.
The record keeps the reasoning as well as the status: what was considered, which treatment applies, where judgement was exercised and what remains uncertain. Evidence requirements are set by issue type, and documents are linked to the declaration, line and issue they support. Missing evidence is visible and holds the case back.
05 / Quantifying amounts
How a figure is reached.
For a possible overpayment, the figure is the difference between what was actually paid on the declaration and what should have been paid on the corrected treatment, worked out per declaration and per line, with the calculation kept alongside its inputs.
- A recovery claim can only be drafted where duty or import VAT was actually paid. Where nothing was paid there is nothing to recover, and the software does not create a claim.
- Duty and import VAT are separate amounts with separate routes. They are not treated as interchangeable.
- A figure is a working calculation for review. It becomes part of a claim only after a person has signed it off.
06 / Time limits
Time is checked, never assumed.
Eligible overpayments generally have a three-year repayment window, and some routes allow less. The software surfaces the relevant deadline so that it can be acted on, but HMRC’s current guidance decides whether a claim is in time. Check it at the point of claim.
07 / Human control
Software identifies. A person concludes.
Several gates must be satisfied before work can move forward:
- Source provenance is retained for declaration facts.
- The declarations are matched to an authorised client and the correct importer EORI.
- Authority or representation status is recorded and signed off before HMRC-facing work is finalised.
- Duty or import VAT has actually been paid.
- A named user reviews the output, records the assessment and signs it off.
Nothing is sent to HMRC automatically. A claim or disclosure leaves the software only through a person who has reviewed it and chosen to submit it.
08 / Limits
What this method does not do, and where it can be wrong.
- Rules and assisted outputs can be wrong or may not fit the facts of a case. That is why a person must review them.
- Munire does not file import declarations and is not a customs broker, freight forwarder or recovery agent.
- Munire is software and does not give legal or tax advice. Corrections, reclaims and disclosures remain the importer’s decision.
- Coverage is United Kingdom customs only.
- Munire is not affiliated with HM Revenue & Customs.
- The quality of the output depends on the quality of the declaration data and documents supplied.
09 / Primary sources
Check HMRC’s current guidance.
HMRC owns the legal routes and conditions. Its guidance can change, so verify it at the point of claim:
- GOV.UK: Claim a repayment of import duty and VAT (C285)
- GOV.UK: Claim repayment or remission of charges on rejected imports (C&E1179)
- GOV.UK: Refunds and waivers on customs debt
Munire’s own reference pages are in the Customs knowledge centre. They describe HMRC routes and are not official government guidance.
10 / Corrections
Tell us if something here is wrong.
If you find an error on this page or in the way the software is described, email hello@munire.co.uk with the page and the issue. Changes to products are recorded in Product updates, and this page shows the date it was last reviewed.