Apply for grants if your business completes customs declarations
Find out what grants you can apply for to get funding for recruitment, training and IT improvements if your business completes customs declarations.
You can apply for 3 grants to help your business complete customs declarations.
You can apply to get funding for:
- training that helps your business to complete customs declarations and processes
- hiring new staff to help your business complete customs declarations
- IT improvements to help your business complete customs declarations more efficiently
Who can apply
Your business must:
- have been established in the UK for at least 12 months before the submission of your application and when the grant is paid
- not have previously failed to meet its tax obligations – we’ll check our records to decide if we can offer your business a grant
In addition, your businesses must meet one of the descriptions below:
- complete or intend to complete customs declarations on behalf of your clients
- be an importer or exporter and complete or intend to complete declarations internally for your own goods
- be an organisation which recruits, trains and places apprentices in businesses to undertake customs declarations.
What you must use the grants for
Recruitment
You must use the funding to cover the recruitment and salary costs of new employees, where the new employee started on or after 12 June 2020, who will help your business complete customs declarations.
You can also use the funding to cover the salary costs of employees who are redeployed from another part of your business in order to undertake customs declarations. These employees new roles must increase the capacity of the company to deal with customs declarations.
Training
The training must give you or your employees the skills to:
- complete customs declarations
- carry out customs processes – this can include relevant training in safety and security
The training does not have to lead to a formal qualification.
If you want to arrange the training internally, you can use the funding for the cost of delivering the training, like related stationery, room hire, catering and travel and subsistence costs.
If the training will be delivered by an in-house trainer, you can also use the funding to cover the (reasonable) day rate of the trainer.
You cannot use the funding for other unrelated training
You can also use the grant to reimburse what your business has spent on relevant training since 12 June 2020.
IT improvements
You must use the funding to buy software that will help your business to complete customs declarations more efficiently.
It must be a ready-made solution – you cannot use the funding to commission bespoke software.
You can also use the funding to:
- buy hardware that’s needed for the software to run
- install and configure the software and hardware
- buy the first year licence
- train employees to use the software
You cannot use the funding for unrelated networking costs.
You can also use the grant to reimburse what your business has spent on relevant IT improvements since 12 June 2020.
Amounts of funding available
Recruitment grant
The grant will give you £3,000 towards recruitment costs for each new employee. Upfront recruitment costs will not be covered for an employee redeployed from another part of the business, unless this is part of an external recruitment campaign.
You could also get up to £12,000 to cover the salary costs for each new or redeployed employee.
Training grant
The grant will give you up to 100% of the actual costs of externally-provided training for your employees, up to a limit of £1,500 for each employee on the course.
It will also cover the cost of training you run internally, up to a limit of £250 for each employee on the course.
IT improvements
The grant will give you 100% of the costs relating to your IT expenditure to improve the efficiency of making customs declarations.
State aid limitations
These grants will give you up to 200,000 euros, which is (the maximum amount of state aid available). This limit applies to the total of all grants applications received in the last three years.
What you’ll need
When you apply, you’ll be asked for your business’s:
- registered name and number
- contact details
- VAT number (if this applies)
- Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR)
- most recent utility bill
You’ll also need to provide information about what you’ll use the funding for and advise of your expected growth in capacity to complete customs declarations or take on new clients.
Recruitment
You’ll be asked to complete an application setting out how the money will be used. You’ll need to give information about:
- why you expect your business to need more staff
- the stage your recruitment process is at
Training grant
You’ll be asked for:
- a quote for the cost of the training – where appropriate this can include but is not limited to trainer costs, venue hire, training materials, and travel and subsistence
- the CV of the trainer if the training will be delivered internally
IT improvements grant
You’ll be asked for:
- details of the software you intend to buy
- quotes for the cost of:
- buying and installing the software
- buying and installing related hardware
- training employees to use the software
How to apply
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is administering the grants for HMRC.