HMASABN5030 – Detail of the scheme: What is scenario 2 and what conditions must be met for a warehousekeeper to abandon goods?
In Scenario 2 a warehousekeeper becomes liable for excise
duty on excise goods as a result of circumstances not related to
the expiry of the initial period (i.e.):
- The registration of an owner of goods (or duty representative) has been revoked, or,
- An unregistered owner may have purchased relevant goods from a registered owner whilst they are held within the warehouse, or,
- A non-UK trader storing goods in the warehouse is no longer represented by a UK duty representative.
In these circumstances the warehousekeeper can abandon goods if the following conditions are met:
- The goods must not be owned by the warehousekeeper at the
excise duty point
- The goods must be relevant goods (see page
HMASABN3030)
- The warehousekeeper must abandon the goods to HMRC immediately
following the excise duty point.
- And that duty had not been paid or accounted for on those goods.
For goods to be abandoned under Scenario 2 either the registered owner or the duty representative must have failed to meet one of the following additional legal requirements:
- The new owner failed to provide the authorised warehousekeeper
with a copy of his certificate of registration prior to buying
relevant goods and is, therefore, not a registered person.
- The owner failed to immediately give written notice to the
warehousekeeper that his registration had been revoked.
- The new duty representative failed to provide the authorised
warehousekeeper with a copy of his registration prior to relevant
goods being bought by his principal (customer) or a duty
representative no longer acts on behalf of a foreign owner.
- The duty representative failed to immediately give written
notice to the warehousekeeper that his registration had been
revoked.
- That duty had not been paid or accounted for on or before the duty point.
The excise duty point occurs when the goods are no longer owned by a registered owner or when there ceased to be a duty representative acting as the owner’s agent.
