Declaration in Customs

Rectification and/or invalidation

Rectification and/or invalidation

INVALIDATION (ART. 174 CAU )

Invalidation means rendering a previously submitted declaration ineffective. Its purpose is to correct situations where the declaration is no longer appropriate or necessary, within the limitations established in the rule. Its regulation is contained in Article 174 of the Regulation ( EU ) 952/20132 (hereinafter referred to as CAU) and 148 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 2015/2446 (hereinafter referred to as RECAU).

Conditions

A customs declaration can be invalidated, before the Levant, upon request of the interested party (22 CAU), generally in 2 cases:

• When the goods are to be immediately included in another customs regime. In this case, the invalidation is conditional upon the submission of a new declaration corresponding to the correct regime.
• When, due to special circumstances, inclusion in the regime is no longer justified. In this case, the declaration is invalidated and the goods return to the situation prior to the submission of the declaration.

Additionally, a declaration can be invalidated after the Levant in the cases and with the requirements provided for in Art. 148 RECAU.

Procedure

It will be submitted, through the Registry, request for invalidation of the declaration, which will be justified, accompanied by the necessary documentation to justify the invalidation.

The application may be submitted by any of the following persons:

• the declarant in accordance with the provisions expressly set forth in Articles 173 and 174 CAU
• the importer, the exporter and, where applicable, the depositor in their capacity as taxable persons of VAT
• the direct representative or any other person provided that they prove their status as voluntary representatives in accordance with the provisions of article 46.2 of the General Tax Law 58/2003.

 The competence The Customs Administration or the Decentralized Office that accepts the document will be responsible for processing the invalidation procedure.

H1 Declaration

If the declaration to be invalidated is an H1, it may involve a refund or forgiveness of the debt. In these cases, it will be mandatory to include the refund or remission request form available through the following link: https://sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es/static_files/Sede/Tema/Aduanas/Deuda_aduanera/deuda_garantias/dev-instr.pdf

Invalidation entails the refund of the amount of import or export duties that have been paid (Art. 116.1 UCC), whereas, if the customs debt has not been paid, the invalidation of the declaration means that the debt is extinguished (Art. 124.1.d) UCC).

Export

When a rectification of the export declaration with indirect exit through another member state is requested after release, the declaration must be invalidated and a new one submitted due to the implications in the Automated Export System (AES), with this technical invalidation being carried out by the competent body for rectification.

RECTIFICATION (art. 173 CAU)

The rectification allows the obligated party to request the modification of a previously submitted declaration, within the limitations established in the rule. Its regulation is contained in Article 173 CAU, which allows the declarant to request the modification of one or more data of the declaration once it has been accepted by Customs.

Conditions

You may request a correction of the declaration provided that:

• The rectification does not imply using the declaration for goods other than those originally declared. In particular, the data cannot be rectified to include a greater weight, and it is necessary to provide a new declaration that supports said import.
• The rectification does not have as its objective any of the circumstances provided for in Art. 173.3 CAU.

Procedure

It will be submitted, through the Registry, request for rectification of the declaration, which will be motivated, accompanied by the necessary documentation for its implementation.

The application may be submitted by:

• the declarant in agreement (Art. 173 and 174 CAU)
• the importer, the exporter and, where applicable, the depositor in their capacity as VAT taxpayers
• the direct representative, who must prove their voluntary representation except in cases of requests for rectification of the customs declaration after the release referred to in the Section Eleven.1. letter d) of the Resolution of 13 January 2021, of the Presidency of the State Tax Administration Agency, on organization and attributions of functions in the Customs and Special Taxes Area, in which case representation is presumed.
• any other person who proves their status as a voluntary representative (Art. 46.2 LGT ).

The competence The procedure for processing the rectification will depend on the data to be modified. In the event of corrections after the release, the Regional Area corresponding to the Tax Domicile will be responsible, unless it concerns any of the data referred to in Article Eleven d) of the Resolution of January 13, 2021, in which case it will be the responsibility of the Customs Office of dispatch.

H1 Declaration

As noted in the case of invalidation, the request for rectification may entail a refund or forgiveness of the debt, and the same Customs office that is competent for rectification is competent to process it. In these cases, the interested party must accompany their request with the information referred to in the section: INVALIDATION – H1 Declaration.

The competent authority for the rectification of the certificate of origin, which refers to the rectification of data in the certificate because they are contradictory with those appearing in the customs declaration (provided for in section Eleventh.1.c) of the Resolution of January 13, 2021), will be the Customs Administration or Decentralized Headquarters that rectifies the certificate of origin.

Export

Applications for rectification of export declarations must be made electronically whenever the conditions set out in Appendix III of the DUA Resolution are met.

REQUEST FOR REFUND OF DEBTS ALREADY PAID

In both cases of refund and forgiveness, if the amount of the customs and tax debt had already been paidThe way to recover this amount is by requesting a refund (Art. 116.1 of the CAU, and 221.1 of Law 58/2003, of December 17, General Tax Law). In these cases, the applicant must accompany their application with the following additional documentation:

• Tariffs and other import dutiesn: submission of the Model provided in column 4c of Annex A of the RDCAU. For this purpose, the model shown on the website may be used. Refund/waiver of import/export duties https://sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es/static_files/Sede/Tema/Aduanas/Deuda_aduanera/deuda_garantias/dev-instr.pdf, where the account code number where the interested party wants to receive the bank transfer will be stated.
• Other taxes: Providing a form is not mandatory, but it is advisable to indicate the account code number where the interested party wants to receive the bank transfer as well as proof that they are the account holder, in accordance with art. 17 Royal Decree 520/2005, of May 13, 2005. In general, VAT paid will not be refunded to those who are entitled to its deduction.

STATUS OF INTERESTED PARTY - COMPETITION

 For the purposes of competition, the following shall be considered interested parties:

• Importation (Chapter 2 Resolution) DUA ): importer (DE 13 04);
• Export (Chapter 3 DUA Resolution): shipper/exporter (DE 13 01);
• Linkage to the deposit regime (chapter 5 DUA Resolution): depositor (DE 13 04).

 In the event of an error in the declaration of personal items, the authority responsible for the recipient or sender/exporter who, according to the application, should appear in the declaration is responsible, regardless of the erroneously declared item.

MORE INFORMATION

Regarding powers in matters of invalidation and rectification, you can consult: https://portal.www.aeat/static_files/Sede/Tema/Aduanas/Notas_info/NI_2023/NIDTORA_0223_2.pdf

DUA Resolution: https://sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es/Sede/en_gb/normativa-criterios-interpretativos/normativa-aduanera/resolucion-dua.html