Key Takeaways
- HMRC’s free “Get Customs Data” service replaced the paid Management Support System (MSS) reports from 31 March 2026 — saving traders up to £1,000 per year in subscription fees.
- Four report types are available: Import Item, Import Header, Import Tax Lines, and Export Item — all delivered as CSV files within 72 hours.
- You can pull up to 31 consecutive days of data from any point in the last 4 years, though the most recent 2 days are excluded.
- Access requires a CDS subscription, a GB or XI EORI number, and an individual or organisation Government Gateway user ID — agent Government Gateway IDs cannot be used.
- The shift to free self-service carries a compliance message: HMRC expects importers to monitor their own declaration data actively.
What Changed: The End of Paid MSS Reports
For years, if you wanted to see your own customs declaration data — the information HMRC already held about your imports and exports — you paid for it. The Management Support System, or MSS, charged £240 plus VAT per report type per year. A trader wanting the full picture across import items, headers, and tax lines could easily spend close to £1,000 annually just to view data they had already submitted.
That arrangement ended on 31 March 2026. HMRC withdrew the paid MSS and CDS data report system entirely and replaced it with a free self-service portal called “Get Customs Data.” The service had been in public beta since 13 November 2025, following a private beta that ran from late August to early November 2025 with 22 users, 94 sessions, and 169 report downloads.
The new service sits behind Government Gateway authentication and delivers the same core data that MSS subscribers used to pay for — import item details, header summaries, tax line breakdowns, and export item records. The format has shifted from the old MSS layout to CSV files structured around CDS data fields, which means more granular information but also a different shape that takes some getting used to if you relied on MSS exports.
The financial saving is real, but the operational shift is more significant. Under the old system, many importers simply didn’t subscribe — they relied on their customs agent or freight forwarder to flag issues. Now the data is free and directly accessible, and HMRC’s position is unambiguous: traders are expected to use it.
What the Service Offers: Report Types and Data Coverage
The Get Customs Data portal provides four report types, each covering a distinct slice of your declaration history. All reports are delivered as CSV files, and HMRC publishes example ODS files on GOV.UK so you can preview the field layout before requesting live data.
Import Item Report
This is the most detailed import report. Each row represents a single commodity line on an import declaration. Fields include the commodity code, customs procedure code, country of origin, customs value, net mass, supplementary units, and the duty amount calculated for that line. If you are reconciling duty payments or checking whether your agent applied the correct commodity codes, this is the report you need.
Import Header Report
The header report gives you one row per declaration, summarising the shipment-level data: total customs value, invoice amount, freight and insurance costs, the declarant’s EORI, and the acceptance date. It is the quickest way to get a high-level view of import volumes and values over a given period — useful for monthly management reporting or spotting anomalies in declared values.
Import Tax Lines Report
This report breaks down the taxes charged on each declaration: customs duty, import VAT, excise duty, and any additional duties such as anti-dumping or countervailing charges. Each tax type appears on its own row, with the tax base amount, rate applied, and amount paid. For importers using postponed VAT accounting, this report provides the data you need to reconcile your monthly VAT return against actual import activity — a task that was considerably harder when you had to piece together individual C79 certificates.
Export Item Report
The export-side report covers commodity codes, values, and any export measures applied to each item line. It mirrors the import item report but draws from export declaration data. Exporters who need to demonstrate proof of export for VAT zero-rating or who want to audit their export agent’s work will find this report essential.
Data Limitations
The service is not a real-time dashboard. You can request up to 31 consecutive days of data per report, starting from any date within the last 4 years. Data from the most recent 2 days is not available — there is a built-in lag while declarations are processed and settled. Once you submit a request, HMRC aims to deliver the report within 72 hours, though in practice many reports arrive within 24 hours.
Who Can Use It and How to Get Started
Access is not automatic. You need three things in place before you can request your first report.
First, a CDS subscription. If you are already submitting import declarations through the Customs Declaration Service, you are subscribed. If you are still transitioning from CHIEF — which closed for imports in October 2024 — you should already have CDS access. New importers need to subscribe to CDS before the data service becomes available.
Second, a GB or XI EORI number. The service initially supported only GB EORI numbers. HMRC added XI EORI support on 25 March 2026, meaning Northern Ireland traders can now access their declaration data through the same portal. If you do not yet have an EORI, the application process is straightforward and free — see the full EORI guide for the step-by-step.
Third, the right type of Government Gateway user ID. This is the most common stumbling block. You must sign in with an individual or organisation Government Gateway account. Agent Government Gateway IDs — the kind used by customs brokers and freight forwarders to submit declarations on behalf of clients — cannot access the service. If you are an importer who has always let your agent handle everything, you may not have your own Government Gateway account at all. Registering one takes about 15 minutes on GOV.UK and requires your National Insurance number or company registration details.
Once you have all three, the process is simple: sign in at the service page on GOV.UK, select the EORI number you want data for, choose your report type and date range, and submit. HMRC emails you when the CSV is ready to download.
Third-Party Access
Customs agents, consultancies, and accountants can request data on behalf of clients, but the mechanism is different from the old MSS system. The client must grant permission through the service itself — the third party cannot simply log in and pull data. Once permission is granted, a third party can request reports for multiple EORI numbers from a single Government Gateway login, which is more efficient than the importer model where each EORI requires a separate sign-in.
Why This Matters for Compliance
The shift from paid to free is not just a cost-saving measure. It signals a change in HMRC’s expectations around trader compliance.
Under the old MSS system, HMRC could reasonably assume that many small and medium importers simply did not have access to their own declaration data — the subscription cost was a barrier. Now that barrier is gone. Every importer with a CDS subscription and a Government Gateway account can see exactly what declarations have been submitted in their name, what commodity codes were used, what values were declared, and what duties were paid.
The compliance implication is straightforward: if an error sits in your declaration data for months and you never catch it, HMRC is less likely to accept “I didn’t have access to the data” as a defence. The expectation is now that traders regularly review their declaration history — not necessarily every line of every entry, but enough to spot systematic errors.
This is particularly relevant for importers who rely entirely on a freight forwarder or customs agent to handle declarations. If your agent consistently misclassifies a product under the wrong commodity code — resulting in underpaid duty — HMRC will pursue you, the importer, for the arrears. The agent may have made the error, but the legal responsibility for the accuracy of the declaration rests with the importer of record. The Get Customs Data service gives you the tool to spot those errors before HMRC does.
Audit Trail and Record-Keeping
The service also changes the practicalities of audit preparation. HMRC can request customs data going back 4 years during a compliance audit. Previously, assembling that data meant either paying for MSS reports retroactively or relying on whatever records your agent had kept. Now you can pull the data yourself, on demand, at no cost.
A sensible practice is to download your import item and tax lines reports quarterly and store them alongside your commercial invoices and shipping documents. If HMRC opens an audit, you have the declaration data ready — and you have already reviewed it, so there should be no surprises.
Practical Steps to Integrate This Into Your Operations
The service is only useful if you build it into your routine. Here is a practical workflow that takes about 30 minutes per month.
Monthly: pull the Import Tax Lines report for the previous month. Reconcile the import VAT figures against your postponed VAT accounting statement. If the numbers do not match, investigate before your next VAT return is due. This alone can prevent costly errors — a single misclassified shipment that attracts the wrong VAT treatment can compound over months.
Quarterly: pull the Import Item report and spot-check commodity codes. You do not need to review every line. Pick your 10 highest-value imports for the quarter and verify that the commodity code, country of origin, and customs value match your purchase orders and commercial invoices. If your agent is using a different code than you expect, ask why — it may be correct and your assumption wrong, or it may be an error that needs correcting.
Annually: pull a full year of Import Header data. Use it to analyse import volumes, values by supplier, and duty spend. This data feeds into procurement decisions, transfer pricing documentation, and customs duty reviews. If you are considering applying for a duty relief scheme — such as Inward Processing Relief or Customs Warehousing — the header data provides the baseline numbers you need to build the business case.
When changing agents: pull all four report types for the entire period the outgoing agent handled your declarations. Review them before the handover. Any errors found after the agent relationship ends are harder to resolve, and the new agent will not have context on the old agent’s practices.
If You Use a Customs Agent
Have a conversation with your agent about data access. Ask whether they are already monitoring your declaration data through the service and, if not, whether they plan to. If you want them to perform proactive compliance checks, grant them third-party access through the portal and agree on a review schedule — monthly or quarterly, depending on your import volume.
What the Service Does Not Do
It is worth being clear about the boundaries. The Get Customs Data service is a declaration history tool, not a real-time customs management platform. It does not show the status of in-progress declarations, it does not replace the CDS dashboard for submitting or amending declarations, and it does not provide any analytics or visualisation — you get raw CSV files and you do the analysis yourself.
For importers who want more than raw CSV exports — dashboards, trend analysis, automated anomaly detection — third-party customs data platforms exist that ingest the CSV files and layer analytics on top. These are paid services, but they sit on top of the free HMRC data rather than replacing it. The economics are different from the old MSS model: you are paying for analysis and presentation, not for access to your own data.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to use the Get Customs Data service, or is it optional?
There is no legal requirement to use the service. However, HMRC now expects importers to monitor their declaration data, and the service is the free mechanism for doing so. If an error in your declarations goes uncorrected and HMRC discovers it during an audit, the fact that you had free access to the data and chose not to review it will not help your case.
Can my freight forwarder access my data without my permission?
No. Even if your forwarder submits declarations on your behalf using their own CDS credentials, they cannot access your declaration history through the Get Customs Data service unless you explicitly grant them permission through the portal. The data is tied to your EORI number, and access requires either your Government Gateway login or a third-party authorisation you control.
How far back can I request data?
You can request data from any date within the last 4 years, in blocks of up to 31 consecutive days. For example, on 12 August 2026, you can pull data going back to 12 August 2022. Data from the most recent 2 days is not available while declarations are processed.
What if I have multiple EORI numbers?
Each EORI number is linked to a specific Government Gateway user ID. To access data for multiple EORIs, you need to sign in separately with the Government Gateway account linked to each one. Third parties with client permission can access multiple EORIs from a single login — this is one of the practical advantages of granting your agent access through the portal.
Is the data the same as the old MSS reports?
The data covers the same ground — import items, headers, tax lines, and export items — but the format is different. MSS reports had a specific layout that long-time subscribers were familiar with. The new CSV files use CDS data field names and include additional fields that were not present in MSS exports. If you have historical MSS data that you compare against, expect to do some column mapping during the transition.
What happens if I find an error in my declaration data?
If you spot a misdeclaration — wrong commodity code, incorrect value, missing licence reference — you should correct it through the CDS. Minor errors can often be amended retrospectively. More significant errors may require a voluntary disclosure to HMRC. The key point is that finding the error yourself and correcting it proactively is always better than HMRC finding it first. The customs clearance guide covers the amendment process in detail.