Anna Doherty is the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade's Customs Advisory Practice director.
The UK government is reportedly increasing its enforcement of customs compliance, and this includes auditing businesses.
Last year, HMRC set about hiring 5,500 new officials to support this. The leeway that the government had said it was willing to provide to businesses adjusting to new rules for trade with the EU following Brexit is now clearly a thing of the past.
This means an HMRC customs audit is never too far away for any internationally trading business in 2026. The question is, how can you prepare for a customs audit?
How likely is your business to be audited by HMRC
HMRC can audit any business to ensure that it is complying with taxation and documentation requirements.
Businesses involved in large volumes of cross border goods movements, that use government-approved customs special procedures to streamline duty requirements, and businesses that provide incomplete documentation or payments of duties and VAT are probably most of risk of being checked.
However, anyone can be audited. HMRC has a right to enter your business premises to complete the check and can do this unannounced, though they will usually try to arrange an appointment.
Businesses found to have not complied with key customs requirements or paid sufficient taxes, including VAT and duties, will be reprimanded. At the very least, they will need to pay any underpaid duties or taxes owed. However, where there are cases of significant non-compliance, HMRC may issue penalties, revoke customs authorisations or seek criminal prosecution.
What happens during a customs audit
During an audit, a customs compliance officer can do a number of checks, including examining your business records, checking physical and administrative areas of the business, inspecting goods, taking samples to check classifications, and even detaining or seizing goods where a breach of the law is suspected. You can read more information on this gov.uk explainer about audits.
They can also review documentation relating to customs for up to four years and VAT records for at least the previous six years. They will also do checks relating to requirements around any special procedures or licences you may use for your trade – for instance, how you store goods if you use the customs warehousing procedure to suspend duty payments while the goods remain in storage under customs control.
How to prepare for a customs audit
Companies that regularly self-audit, or get external advisory checks from an independent organisation like the Chartered Institute, will likely be better prepared for an HMRC audit.
Good record-keeping is key to ensure compliance with export and import documentation requirements. This includes having copies of invoices, any relevant evidence such as supplier declarations if claiming preference, duty payment records and submitted customs declaration data.
You should also have clear evidence of how you’ve ensured compliance with ‘the three pillars of customs compliance’ – classification, valuation and origin.
The good news is that the government has now made it free for businesses to access all data on the Customs Declaration Service (CDS) relating to trade done in their business’ name via the ‘Get customs data for import and export declarations’ dashboard.
What does good recordkeeping look like?
I’ve helped several businesses prepare for a customs audit on behalf of the Chartered Institute and the biggest challenge is always getting my head around their data.
Many businesses don’t have time to continually monitor and organise their customs information. I often see key compliance data scattered across an array of haphazardly arranged spreadsheets and fragmented IT systems. This is a particularly significant challenge for SMEs, which may have limited resource available to allocate to information management.
The good news is that there are tools available that can be used to help you centralise and organise customs data. For instance, MyCustomsInfo has a customs documentation storage and digital filing system that can even help you identify compliance risks within your data using its integrated analysis tools.
Tools like MyCystomsInfo can offer accessible visibility across your duty payments and declarations too, helping you to spot any compliance risks ahead of an HMRC audit.
Make your case for customs compliance
So, regular self-auditing, good recordkeeping, getting expert support and using digital tools like MyCustomsInfo to organise your data all help you to prepare for an HMRC customs audit.
These good practices allow you to make an informed and clear case for your customs compliance quickly, making an audit a smooth and affirming experience.
