Form C1421: do you pay import duty and VAT on inherited belongings?

A UK resident who brings home belongings inherited from someone who has died normally pays no import duty or VAT on them: the relief is claimed on HMRC's form C1421 when the goods come in, and HMRC decides whether it applies. I look after these moves at MuveOne, and this guide answers what families ask me, from GOV.UK's own rules.

They are two different reliefs. Transfer of residence relief, claimed with a ToR1, is for people moving their own home to the UK after living abroad. Inherited goods relief, claimed with form C1421, is for belongings that have come to you from someone who has died. You do not need to have lived abroad for it, but you do need to live in the UK. The ToR1 has a guide of its own on this site.

If you are doing both, moving home and bringing a parent's things, tell me at the first call, so the right papers go with each.

Then its place is taken by the legal documents that name the heirs, certified by whoever is winding up the estate. That is what GOV.UK asks for: a copy of the will, or the legal documents where there was none.

If the will or those documents do not name each thing you are bringing, the executor's list does: the goods, their rough value, and confirmation that they passed to you. Anything in another language is easier with a certified translation.

Check this before you book. One woman clearing her parents' house in Spain had both questions at once: there was no will, and her brother had signed his share over to her. GOV.UK says the relief does not cover goods bought from the executor, or bought or received as a gift from the person who legally inherited them. Whether a share signed over to you counts as your inheritance depends on how the estate records it.

So ask whoever is winding up the estate whether the documents name you as the heir of those things, and tell me what they say. Customs decides, and it is far easier to know before the van than after.

Two years from the date the estate is finally settled, not from the date of the death. In exceptional circumstances HMRC's National Imports Relief Unit can be asked to allow longer.

The relief should be claimed when the goods come in. If it was not, HMRC may still accept a late claim and repay what was paid, on its conditions.

Yes. GOV.UK lets them arrive at different times, as long as each load comes with proof of the inheritance. That suits a first load of the things that matter most, the photographs and the keepsakes, and the rest once the house is cleared.

Alcohol and tobacco are never covered, and neither are commercial vehicles, stock, or trade tools other than portable ones. Goods bought from the estate, rather than inherited, do not qualify either.

The relief is about import duty and VAT. Clearing the goods through customs is a separate piece of work, and on our moves into the UK it is part of the quote. If customs is not shown the evidence, it can ask for a deposit before it releases the goods, which is one more reason to have the papers ready first.

Before you book, have these to hand. It is part of a typical set, not all of it: your exact list comes after we have talked, and customs can always ask for more.

• The death certificate.
• The will, or the legal documents that name the heirs, certified by whoever is winding up the estate.
• A list of what you are bringing, with rough values if the will does not name each thing.
• A certified translation of anything not in English, if you can.
• Your passport, and proof that you live in the UK.
• The date the estate was finally settled, so we know where your two years stand.
• Form C1421 comes from GOV.UK; our own Inheritance Declaration we send you to sign.