How bonded storage works
Goods come in from outside the EU and go into the warehouse under customs supervision. Import VAT and customs duties are postponed. If you sell to Germany, the taxes fall due when the goods are released into the EU. If you re-export to the UK or the Gulf, those goods are fully free of EU taxes.
When bonded storage is better than direct import
- Re-export share: part of the stock leaves the EU again, so that part is free of duty.
- Timing: you can hold the goods until the season or the buyer is there, and the tax falls due only on release.
- Duty planning: if you process the goods under customs control, the amount on which you pay duty can change.
When Article 23 is the better choice
If the stock is for the EU market anyway, you gain little from suspension. With the Article 23 deferment, you already declare the VAT in your return, and the administration is lighter than with customs storage. Logistics providers in Rotterdam offer both. See Dutch warehousing and customs storage for more.
When the goods leave the warehouse under the Article 23 licence, you declare the import VAT in your VAT return. At the gate, you pay zero. If you own the goods and are based outside the EU, see fiscal representation for non-EU importers.
The VAT return is due every quarter, the payroll every month and the annual accounts once a year. Read more about this work, and how the monthly amount is calculated, on bookkeeping in the Netherlands.
The company behind it
Bonded storage takes place under the licence of a warehouse keeper, or under your own licence. Traders often run the trade through their own Dutch BV (besloten vennootschap, the Dutch private limited company). The warehouse, the EORI number and the VAT position are then all in one company. You can read more on the EU market entry hub.
Storing goods with the duties suspended? See how a customs warehouse in the Netherlands works.