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Hot on the heels of the German Federal Fiscal Court’s publication of its final decision in the Hamamatsu case (our blog on that here), UK Customs (HMRC) have today published updated guidance on the customs valuation of imports, replacing its previous guidance (Notice 252).

What jumps out at first glance is a seeming change in policy with regards to the valuation of goods sold between related parties, with HMRC advising “you will not usually be able to use Method 1 [Transaction Value] with a margin-based transfer pricing model.” Margin-based transfer pricing models technically include the resale price method, the cost plus method, and transactional net margin method (“TNMM”). This only leaves the comparable uncontrolled price method and the profit split method from the OECD transfer pricing methods as potentially “acceptable” from a customs valuations perspective. Taking into account the above and the fact that HMRC states that TNMM is the OECD method most commonly used for justifying the transfer pricing of a company, the effects of the new HMRC advice are starting to seem rather far reaching. 

This will likely be cause for concern for the many UK importers which are using such transfer pricing models and basing the customs value of their imported goods on the transfer price (using Method 1). HMRC’s rationale for the change is that “the real economic value for the imported goods cannot be assured at the time when they are sold for export to the UK. This would also lead to uncertainty with any later adjustments.”

We are liaising with HMRC to better understand the background behind this revised guidance and the potential impact of this shift for UK importers.

Stay tuned as we will soon publish additional analysis on the updated valuation guidance.

Author

Jennifer Revis is a partner in Baker McKenzie's London office and co-leads our EMEA Customs Team.
Jennifer focuses her practice on the public regulation of international trade, particularly in a wide range of customs compliance issues. She regularly advises clients on import matters, including customs valuation, rules of origin, and classification. She has worked with clients designing and implementing their compliance programs, policies, procedures and risk assessments, and assisting them in customs audits. She has significant experience in managing global customs projects and disputes, particularly in the area of customs valuation (transfer pricing; assists; royalties). Jennifer also advises on FTAs and trade remedies matters.
Jennifer has been consistently recognised as a "Leading Individual" for Customs & Excise and “Next Generation Partner” for Trade, WTO Anti-Dumping And Customs. Clients describe her as "an outstanding customs lawyer and litigator with fantastic experience. She is also easy to work with and leads her team with aplomb", "without a doubt, one of the best customs lawyers in the business (…) with an exceptionally deep knowledge of customs valuation concepts, as well as considerable experience applying those concepts in a variety of jurisdictions."
Jennifer has been on secondment to the UK customs authorities (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) in their tax and excise litigation department and to the Firm's European Law Centre in Brussels.

Author

Nicole Looks is a partner within the Amsterdam Tax Practice with more than 25 years of experience. She focuses on advising national and international companies in all value added tax and customs related matters. JUVE Handbook on Commercial Law Firms, International Tax Review, Chambers & Partners, Legal 500 and Handelsblatt in cooperation with Best Lawyers recommend her as leading individual in the area of Indirect Taxes since many years and praise her as " "very knowledgeable about German customs tax" and as “very good and practice-oriented“. Nicole heads the European Customs Practice.

Author

Rini joined Baker McKenzie after six years with the Canadian government, having worked on Brexit policy, as well in trade and tax litigation. She obtained her legal training with the Canadian government with the Trade Law Bureau and the Department of Justice. Her background in trade matters spans legal advisory, litigation and policy, having worked on free trade agreements, WTO litigation on market access and trade remedies issues. Prior to joining the Canadian government, she was a government affairs associate at one of Canada's most recognizable brands.

Author

Sylvain Guelton is a senior associate in the Tax Practice Group in the Brussels office. He joined Baker McKenzie in 2022. He was previously a senior manager at PwC Belgium for six years and a lawyer in a French law firm based in Paris and Brussels.

Author

Jukka Karjalainen is a partner in the London Tax Department of Baker McKenzie, and co-leads the UK Transfer Pricing practice as well as sits on the Firm's EMEA transfer pricing steering committee. He has 25 years of experience in dealing with transfer pricing and international corporate tax issues from both a private practice and an industry perspective, having spent time in-house at a multinational metals and mining corporation.