HMRC & Border Force Seized Goods – Your Questions Answered

If you have purchased or ordered items to be delivered from abroad, or you are shipping items out of the UK, they will be required to pass customs checks. It is at this stage where, on occasion, items may be seized by border officials.

Depending on their nature, goods may be more or less likely to be seized and put at risk of either forfeiture or condemnation by HMRC or Border Force.

Items most likely to be seized include:

• Alcohol
• Cigarettes and other tobacco products
• Vehicles (for personal use and business car stock)
• Offensive weapons where there is no licence, and self-defence items such as pepper spray
• Endangered species of animal or plant, or species that are likely to be diseased
• Meat or dairy products from outside the EU
• Items that are considered indecent or obscene
• Items that are suspected to be the proceeds of crime
• Items for which the correct VAT or duty has not been paid, or for which any paperwork – such as certificates or licences – is missing or incomplete

Here, we explain what to do upon receipt of a Border Force Notice 12A – a warning letter about seized goods – and guide you through ways to challenge the seizure of goods.

What Happens During a Goods Seizure?

Goods seizures can take place under a number of circumstances. If you are accompanying the items in question as you cross the border into, or out of, the UK, you will be stopped and the items seized in your presence. The reason for the seizure will be explained to you, and you will then be handed a Notice 12A, otherwise known as a Border Force Seizure Notice.

If you are importing or exporting goods through a courier or other agent, the goods will be seized at the border, and the notice of seizure will then be sent to you.

This document will disclose details of the confiscation and the contact details of HMRC and Border Force, with whom you can pursue asset recovery. It’s important to take note of which of these two organisations have seized your items so that you can send correspondence to the right place.

If you have been the subject of the confiscation and freezing of assets under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 or the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, the notice will also inform you of the actions you may take if you do not agree with the seizure.

What Happens if my Goods are Seized by HMRC?

Often, it can simply be a case of sending a formal notice of claim to HMRC to formally request your items back. On other occasions, you will have to seek legal advice, especially if you think that the seizure of goods is unfair. On rare occasions, you may be arrested if customs or border force staff consider you complicit in a crime, and in these circumstances it’s certainly worth seeking legal assistance.

What are Your Options When You Receive a Warning Letter About Seized Goods?

Usually, an organisation whose goods have been confiscated must appeal against HMRC seizure of goods within one month of receiving notice. If you do not do so within this window, your items will be liable for forfeiture or condemnation.

Means you may use to challenge the seizure of goods include:

• Challenging the legality of the confiscation through a Notice of Claim.
• Sending a “restoration letter” requesting the return of the item or items that have been seized. It is possible to send this after the one month limit.
• Both of the above – sending the notice of claim and then the restoration letter, so that your items may be returned to you while the notice is being processed.
• It’s important to be aware that after alcohol seizure or the confiscation of other perishable goods such as cigarettes following the sending of a Notice 12A, HMRC are likely to dispose of these items as soon as they can. Anything that isn’t perishable will begin to be disposed of after 45 days.

Remember, both a restoration letter and a Notice of Claim should include:

• Your company’s name and address
• Details of the items you wish to be returned, including quantities, size, colour, brand, etc.
• The reference number you received at the time of seizure
• Documentation that proves you own the item in question – e.g. receipts
• An explanation of why you believe the goods should be returned to. For example, you should include a licence or certificate of ownership if an item was originally confiscated due to a lack of one. In a Notice of Claim, you should also explain why you believe the seizure in question was not legal.

If your assets were seized by HMRC, this correspondence should be sent to:

HM Revenue and Customs

Specialist Investigations

Appeals and reviews team S0777

PO Box 29992

Glasgow

G70 6AB

Or, if you intend to appeal Border Force restoration policy enforcers, you should send it to:

National Post Seizure Unit

Border Force

3rd Floor

West Point

Ebrington Street

Plymouth

PL4 9LT

Why Might I Have Been Sent a Notice 12A by HMRC?

Some of the circumstances under which your goods can be seized may include occasions where incorrect excise duty was paid, the contents of a package were incorrectly described or the items in question are in some way prohibited or restricted, or are believed to be the proceeds of crime.

Can My Goods Be Searched When They Are Seized?

Yes, HMRC and Border Force agents are allowed to conduct a search if they have reasonable grounds to suspect there are prohibited or restricted goods present, or goods on which duty has not been paid. They may also look through documentation and inspect electronic devices.

Excise Duty and Exports

If items have been imported from within the EU, they should not be subject to excise duty. Therefore, items seized on the basis that incorrect duty was paid should not have been confiscated in the first place, and making this argument will likely see you win your case. If the goods have been legally imported from another continent and the correct duty was paid, it’s also likely that you will win your case.

Items from outside the EU can be imported as long as they are within an amount known as a “statutory allowance”. For alcohol, this amount translates as 16 litres of beer, 4 litres of non-sparkling wine, 1 litre of spirits or beverages containing over 22% alcohol or 2 litres of fortified wine, sparkling wine or other drinks with an alcohol content of up to 22%.

In terms of tobacco, it is possible to import up to 200 cigarettes, 100 cigarillos, 50 cigars or 250g of tobacco.

Any other goods may be worth up to £390 before you are required to pay any duty. If you go over your allowance, you will be required to pay 2.5% on any goods worth up to £630. The amount of payment for goods above £630 will depend on the type.

If any goods you are planning to export from the UK to anywhere within the EU have been seized, it may be that you did not have proof of the correct licences required, or the proforma invoice you have completed is incorrect – for example, the amount of VAT charged is wrong.

When exporting goods outside of the EU, you may be required to have obtained further licenses, and you will also need to have made all necessary export declarations to customs through the National Export System (NES) before the item can be transported. Correct VAT, import taxes and duties must have been paid on the items, and any transport procedures must be adhered to. Failure to comply with these regulations may result in items being seized.

Implications of a Notice of Claim Following a Border Force Notice 12A

After a Notice of Claim is received, “condemnation proceedings” will begin. These usually take place at the Magistrate’s Court, at a hearing you will be expected to attend. If it is found that the items in question have been legally seized, you will then forfeit them completely.

On the other hand, if the court is relatively satisfied by your argument, it may be ruled that the goods can be restored to you if you agree to adhere to certain conditions.

If the goods have been imported from another EU country and can feasibly be argued as being for personal use or to be given to another individual or as a gift, it’s likely that any confiscation such as a tobacco or alcohol seizure will be seen as unlawful as long as the items themselves are legal to import and own in the UK, and you will win your case.

If the court denies your request for the seized items to be restored to you, it is possible to appeal that decision by asking that the case is reviewed by an officer of greater seniority, and if that officer then denies your request, the case may be taken to an independent tribunal.

Of course, if your business and your relationship with customers rely on smooth import and export processes, delays can prove extremely costly. That’s why it’s vital to contact legal advisors and resolve the case as soon as possible. At the same time, it may be worth examining what caused the issue this time, in order to prevent it from happening again in the future.

Disagreeing with customs for the HMRC seized goods 

It can also be argued that the articles in question should never have been seized at all. This will involve a court appearance.

Customs can also seize items or money under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 or the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) if they suspect that they are evidence of a crime. If this occurs, the owner will receive a warning letter about HMRC seized goods which will also detail the steps to be taken if they wish to contest this action.

DBT & Partners solicitors can assist you with any of the above eventualities.

Challenges

It may be that criminal allegations arise against you following HMRC seizure of goods. This may be because the items have been seized under the Terrorism Act or the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, and that you are now a suspect in a criminal case due to your dealings with them. Because of this, it is vital that you get in touch with legal representatives as soon as you receive a Notice 12A.

In conclusion:

• Immediate action is vital upon the receipt of a Notice 12A. You will usually only have one month to appeal a seizure.
• Your goods may have been seized because they were restricted or prohibited in the UK Otherwise, they may have been accompanied by incorrect documentation, you may have paid the incorrect amount of VAT or duty on the goods in question, or it may have been suspected that they were the proceeds of crime.
• To claim your items back, you may either send a restoration letter or a Notice of Claim, or both. The former is a request for the authority in question to review why they seized the relevant items and to consider their return, and the latter is a request for a court hearing as the result of a seizure that may have been illegal.

If you have received a warning letter about seized goods, whether it refers to vehicle, tobacco or alcohol seizure or the confiscation of any other items of property, it’s important that you contact DBT & Partners today. We can assist you in the drafting of a restoration letter and sending a Notice of Claim, and will represent you at any hearing. Our experienced solicitors will help you to present your case and argue that the HMRC seizure of goods in question was not lawful.