Import Duties
The question
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department will consider the potential merits of bringing forward a deadline before October 2028 regarding the closure of the de minimis loophole.
Answered by Treasury
Goods valued at £135 or less imported into the UK are predominantly imported through a simplified customs declaration. Before 2023, it was not mandatory to provide the total value of goods as part of the simplified customs declaration. However, since collecting this information, it is estimated that £5.8bn worth of goods under £135 are declared annually.
Following consultation, at Tax Update Day 2026, the Government announced that implementation of new customs arrangements for goods valued at £135 or less would be accelerated from March 2029 to October 2028. A new system for duty collection will need to be built to handle the significant volume of low value goods and avoid disruption at the border. Businesses involved in the sale and movement of these goods will also need time to prepare for the changes. The Government is making every effort to introduce changes to the low value import regime as quickly as reasonably possible while avoiding disruption, which is a core design principle of the reform.
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