Customs office

What it means

A customs office is the Financial Administration body that collects customs duty, import VAT and excise duty, releases goods into customs procedures and controls imports, exports and transit. It also enforces prohibitions and restrictions such as sanctions and consumer protection.

In Slovakia customs offices sit in regional cities, with branches at the Ukrainian border crossings, airports and logistics centres. They are directed by the Financial Directorate.

Customs offices also handle excise registration, authorise tax and customs warehouses and grant statuses such as AEO that bring simplifications.

How it works in practice

Companies that import or export deal with customs mostly electronically through customs systems, often via a customs representative. They first need an EORI number.

In customs clearance the office checks the declaration, may inspect the goods and releases them once duty is paid or secured. Long-term simplifications allow duty to be paid in aggregate.

Customs also carries out post-clearance audits, reviewing customs value, classification or origin retroactively for three years or more.

What to watch out for

Errors in declarations, such as a wrong value or classification, may surface only in a post-clearance audit and lead to back duty, VAT and fines. Documentation must be archived.

If a crime such as smuggling is suspected, the Criminal Office of the Financial Administration takes over. That is a different kind of proceeding with different rights and duties.