Merchandise in Baggage

Published:

18 July 2021

Updated:

01 May 2025

If there are any words or acronyms in this document that are unfamiliar, you can visit the Jargon Buster or use the search tool on the Northern Ireland Customs & Trade Academy (NICTA) website to find a definition.

What is ‘Merchandise in Baggage’?

‘Merchandise in Baggage’ is commercial goods for sale or business use where:

A commercial transport operator does not carry them for you
You are carrying the goods in your accompanied baggage
The goods are not recorded on the ship, train or aircraft manifest as freight
The goods are not for personal use or meant as personal gifts

Does ‘Merchandise in Baggage’ need to be declared?

You must declare all commercial goods
There is no duty-free allowance for goods you are bringing in to sell or use in your business

Note: Moving ‘Merchandise in Baggage’ from Northern Ireland (NI) to Great Britain (GB) does not require completion of an export declaration, unless specific circumstances apply to the goods where one is required (for example, moving rough diamonds). Further details on requirements on when to submit an export declaration can be found on GOV.UK.

Guidance on how the Trader Support Service (TSS) can support with export declarations can be found in the Movement of goods from NI to GB: Step-by-step guide on NICTA.

How to declare ‘Merchandise in Baggage’

There are two options when declaring ‘Merchandise in Baggage’: an oral declaration and a full declaration.

Oral declaration

An oral declaration involves going to the ‘goods to declare’ channel or the red point phone in the customs area (where this facility is available at a port or airport) to declare your goods and pay what you owe to a Border Force officer.

You will be verbally telling a customs officer:

What the goods are (for example, quantities, characteristics)
What is the purpose of the goods (such as trade or business use)
Who is making the declaration (for example, you or your representative)

When an oral declaration can be made

You can make an oral declaration if your port of entry has the appropriate facilities and if your goods:

Have a value less than £873
Weigh less than 1,000 kilograms
Are not restricted goods
Are not alcohol, tobacco or fuel (excise goods)

It is your responsibility to identify if your goods meet the criteria to be declared under oral declaration. Before your departure, check if:

There is a ‘goods to declare’ channel or red point phone available at your point of entry. (For a list of UK airports and seaports with red channels or red point phones, see GOV.UK)
The nature of your goods is allowed for oral declaration (as per points above)

Declaring ‘Merchandise in Baggage’ by oral declaration

In line with current legislation, an oral declaration does not need an Entry Summary Declaration for movements from GB to NI (see point 7.4 on The Customs (Safety and Security Procedures) Regulations 2022 on GOV.UK). However, you need to perform these mandatory steps:

Identify the ‘goods to declare’ channel/red phone at the entry port/airport and verbally tell the customs officer:
- What the goods are (such as quantities, characteristics)
- What is the purpose of the goods (for example, trade or business use)
- Who is making the declaration (for example, you or your representative)
Pay in cash any duty due if the customs officer informs that it is applicable (oral declarations are not suitable for importers who wish to use postponed accounting for import VAT or who use a duty deferment account)

Note: If your goods are not eligible for an oral declaration, or there are no facilities available for an oral declaration at the point of entry, then you need to make a full declaration for the commercial goods you are carrying in your baggage. You can use the Trader Support Service to submit the full declaration of these goods. You can follow the instructions highlighted in the Full declaration or Internal Market Movement Information (IMMI) section of this guide.

Full declaration or Internal Market Movement Information (IMMI)

If the goods do not meet the criteria mentioned in the Oral declaration section of this guide, you need to provide information associated to the ‘Merchandise in Baggage’ goods moving from GB to NI or Rest of the World (Excluding European Union (EU)) to NI through TSS.

Ensure you are registered as a user in TSS. You can follow the guidance in the Registration: Step-by-step guide using TSS on NICTA.

Once you have registered on TSS, you can proceed to complete a Full Frontier Declaration or Internal Market Movement Information (IMMI) if your goods are eligible to benefit from the simplified processes for Internal Market Movements (SPIMM) for the commercial goods you are carrying in your baggage.

You may need to add an Additional Information Code to your declaration. For more information see Additional Information Codes that may be declared on customs declarations or clearance requests on GOV.UK.

The following guidance provides further details that help to submit ‘Merchandise in Baggage’ goods movement information correctly:

Full Frontier Declaration:

Full Frontier Declaration: Step-by-step guide

Internal Market Movement Information (IMMI)

Note: For this option the eligibility requirements of the simplified processes must be met. Otherwise, you must complete a Full Frontier Declaration.

How to account VAT for ‘Merchandise in Baggage’

VAT on goods sold between GB and NI

For goods sold between GB and NI the seller of the goods will charge customers VAT and should show this on the invoice. The VAT charged will be accounted for as output VAT on the VAT Return. The seller will not be able to claim this back as input VAT.

Where the customer receives an invoice from the seller showing that VAT has been charged, they may use this as evidence to reclaim the VAT as input VAT, subject to the normal rules.

Businesses moving their own goods from GB to NI

The owner of the goods, or the person having control of the leased goods, is liable for VAT on the removal to NI and should follow the normal accounting rules.

When a VAT-registered business moves goods from GB to NI, VAT will be due. The business will need to account for VAT on the movement. This should be included as output VAT on the VAT Return.

Where the goods are being used for taxable sales, the VAT may also be reclaimed as input VAT on its UK VAT Return, subject to the normal rules.

Where a business uses the goods for exempt activities, or where the goods are put to a taxable use and also exempt use, it may be required to make an adjustment to its partial exemption calculations.

Where a business has control of another party’s goods and moves them from GB to NI, they will be required to account for the VAT on the movement. They should issue an import document to the owner if it is the owner that has the right to recover any input tax.

Input tax recovery of the VAT on own or third-party movements follow the normal VAT rules.

You can find detailed information about the VAT treatment when trading between GB and NI on the accounting for VAT for Northern Ireland and Great Britain on GOV.UK.

Import VAT

If your goods are considered ‘at risk’ and they are moving under either of these journeys, then EU duty and the respective import VAT associated to it may be applicable:

GB to NI, or
Rest of the World (excluding EU) to NI

Further information about goods ‘at risk’ can be found in the Goods ‘at risk’ section of the Tariffs on goods movements into NI guide on NICTA.

Oral declarations

If applicable, importers making an oral declaration will pay duty and import VAT in cash at the verbal declaration point. You will not be able to account for import VAT on your VAT Return. Therefore, oral declarations are not suitable for importers who wish to use postponed accounting for import VAT or who use a duty deferment account.

Full declarations

If your goods are not eligible for an oral declaration or the facility to make an oral declaration is not available, you must pay any customs duty or import VAT if applicable.

In this scenario, if you wish to account for import VAT on your VAT Return, you need to provide your VAT registration number at the consignment (header) level of your declaration. In TSS this field is activated when answering ‘Yes’ to the question Use Postponed VAT Accounting?

Other VAT scenarios with Northern Ireland are fully explained on the accounting for VAT for Northern Ireland and Great Britain on GOV.UK
Requirements for getting VAT refunds are indicated on Bringing commercial goods into Northern Ireland in your baggage on GOV.UK

I need to know more

There are additional guides available on NICTA to support you with trade in and out of Northern Ireland:

You can also consult the TSS Contact Centre for support on 0800 060 8888.

Changes to guidance and policy

Last updated May 2025

May 2025: Updated link to Additional Information Codes for CDS and continuous improvement work

June 2024: Re-structure of content and updates to journeys supported by TSS Merchandise in Baggage

July 2022: Addition of section on changes to guidance and policy.

Published 2021.

Entry Summary Declarations: Checklist for freight forwarders of standard goods

ENS Step-by-step guide: Standard Process and Consignment First Process

Moving personal property from Great Britain into Northern Ireland

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