Export declaration
Also known as: declaration for export, EX A
An export declaration is the declaration with which Union goods leave the customs territory of the EU. It produces the proof of export with which the exporter can support the VAT zero rate.
When is an export declaration mandatory?
On every shipment of Union goods that leaves the EU with a value above one thousand euro or a weight above one thousand kilos. Below those thresholds a simplified form can suffice, but in practice the carrier still asks for a declaration. Without an MRN of the export the cargo does not go on board at many terminals and lines. The declaration is filed at the office of export, usually in the country where the exporter is established or where the goods are loaded. The office of exit is a different office: the port or airport where the goods actually leave the EU. Those two can lie in different member states. Re-export is something else. That concerns non-Union goods that have never been released into free circulation and leave the EU again, for example from a warehouse. For that a re-export declaration is needed, not this export declaration. Do not confuse them: the VAT consequences and the previous procedure are different.
What is the exit confirmation?
After the actual departure the office of exit confirms that the goods have left the EU. The office of export then sends an exit confirmation to the declarant. That message is the proof with which the exporter supports the VAT zero rate. If it stays out, the declaration stays open and the proof is missing at a VAT audit. If that confirmation stays out, the declaration goes into enquiry after ninety days. The exporter can then supply alternative proof, such as an arrival confirmation from the buyer or a transport document with an endorsement. Without proof the declaration stays open and the support for the zero rate is missing. The message lands with the declarant. Under EXW that is formally the buyer, who rarely passes it on. Under FCA, CPT, CIP, DAP, DPU and DDP the seller is the declarant and they receive the message themselves. That is one of the reasons to use FCA on export instead of EXW.
Who is the exporter?
The exporter must be established in the EU and have the power to decide that the goods leave the EU. Since 2018 that has been formulated more strictly than before. A buyer outside the EU cannot fulfil that role, even if they have already paid for the goods and have agreed EXW. On a sale EXW to a party outside the EU that produces a problem: that party cannot be the exporter. That is the main practical reason to use FCA instead of EXW. Under FCA the seller files the export declaration, is the exporter, and receives the proof of exit. The exporter on the declaration must match the party who claims the zero rate. A logistics provider who acts as declarant in direct representation does that on behalf of the exporter. In indirect representation they themselves are the declarant, which on export is less common and requires a power of attorney that covers that.
How does the export process run step by step?
The declarant files the declaration at the office of export. After acceptance an MRN follows and, if there is no control, permission to proceed with an export accompanying document. The goods may then go to the office of exit. Without that permission the cargo may not leave the place of loading. The goods travel to the office of exit, usually a port or airport at the external border. There the departure is confirmed, after which the office of export sends the exit confirmation to the declarant. Days can sit between those two offices, and in that period the declaration is open but the cargo is on the way. If that confirmation stays out, the declaration goes into enquiry after ninety days. Watch open export declarations therefore in the same way as open T1s: a list with MRN, expiry of the ninety-day period, and the question of whether the office of exit has reported back. A peak in January is often the harvest of shipments from October that were never confirmed.
What is the link with VAT?
Export to a country outside the EU is charged at the VAT zero rate. That rate may only be applied if the exporter can show that the goods have actually left the EU. The exit confirmation is the strongest proof. At a VAT audit that is the document the inspector asks for, and a declaration that has never been discharged does not count. That makes watching open export declarations a fiscal matter and not only a customs-technical one. A company with hundreds of open declarations runs an assessment risk over the full turnover of those shipments, at the regular VAT rate. That is not a theoretical risk; it is what an audit recalculates. Alternative proof is possible, but weaker: a signed bill of lading, an arrival confirmation, a CMR with a stamp outside the EU. Supply that proof within the enquiry period, not only when the inspector is on the doorstep. Customs and the tax authority look at the same fact, with two different files.
What is the difference between export and re-export?
Export concerns Union goods that leave the EU. Re-export concerns non-Union goods that have never been released into free circulation and leave the EU again, for example from a warehouse or from the terminal under T1. On re-export no import duties have been paid, and there is no VAT zero rate to claim over a domestic supply that was not there. If the goods still have to travel by road from a warehouse in Amsterdam to Rotterdam, a T1 belongs behind the re-export declaration. If they already lie at the terminal of exit, the re-export declaration alone suffices. That extra T1 is a frequently forgotten link, and an open T1 on a re-export that is substantively finished. On the declaration the distinction is a different procedure code and a different previous procedure. Anyone who files an export declaration for warehouse goods claims that they are Union goods. That is an incorrect declaration. Check the status before you choose the type, not after.
How do you watch open export declarations?
Put every accepted export declaration on a monitor until the exit confirmation is there, or until the enquiry has been closed with alternative proof. Filter on age: older than thirty days is a query to the carrier, older than ninety is an enquiry. Do not wait until the tax authority asks for it. Link the MRN to the booking, the bill of lading or the AWB, so you can see which ship or which aircraft should have confirmed the departure. An MRN without a booking is a declaration of which nobody knows whether the cargo has left. A booking without an MRN is a cargo that can be refused at the terminal. Put the confirmation with the invoice in the VAT records, not only in the customs file. The inspector asks for it at the turnover, not at Customs. A perfectly discharged declaration whose message does not sit in the fiscal folder is at that audit no proof.