URA reclassified your import? Check the HS code before you pay.
A different HS code (the product code that sets your duty rate) can change the duty, VAT and excise on every container. We review the classification and the duty position, and build the technical case. We work alongside your clearing agent, not instead of them.
- Importers whose goods URA has reclassified or revalued
- Businesses with a duty or penalty demand after clearance
- Importers whose clearing agent made a wrong declaration
- Manufacturers importing raw materials who may qualify for duty remission
The code on the entry decides the bill.
Every imported product is declared under an HS code from the EAC Common External Tariff. The code sets the duty rate, and often the excise and VAT that follow. Two codes that look similar can carry very different rates.
When URA disagrees with the code or the value, the extra duty usually lands on the importer, sometimes years after the goods were cleared, with penalties on top. The detail that wins or loses these cases is technical: product specifications, tariff notes, earlier rulings and the paperwork from the time.
How we work with clearing agents. 256 Tax Consultants is a Licensed Tax Agent. We are not a licensed customs clearing agent: we don't lodge customs entries or clear goods, and your clearing agent keeps doing that work. We add the tax-technical work around it: classification and valuation reviews, duty and tax calculations, and the written case for a review or appeal.
Your clearing agent declared it. The bill came to you.
Entries are made in the importer's name, so when a declaration is wrong, URA usually pursues the importer for the duty. Our clearing agent liability review sets out what was declared, what should have been declared, the duty and penalties that follow, and what can still be disputed. If the matter goes further, your advocate gets the tax-technical facts in writing.
Importing raw materials? You may qualify for duty remission.
Under the EAC Customs Management Act, manufacturers can apply for remission (reduced or no duty) on some imported inputs used to make goods. Approved remissions are published in the EAC Gazette. We check whether you qualify, prepare the application and the supporting numbers, and set up the records you'll need to keep once it is granted.
What it can cost you
- Extra duty, VAT and excise on every past shipment
- Penalties and interest on top
- Goods held at the border while it's argued
- Paying a clearing agent's mistake with no record of who got what wrong
Three steps
We review the documents
Product specifications, the entry, the invoice and URA's decision.
We work out the right code and the money
The correct classification in our view, and the duty difference across your shipments.
We build the case with your clearing agent
A written classification opinion and evidence pack for URA's review, or for an appeal.
What you receive
- A written classification opinion, with reasons
- The duty and tax difference, shipment by shipment
- An evidence pack for review or appeal
- For manufacturers: a duty remission eligibility check
Your starting figure
Tell us what you need. Before you import, the fee is a share of the value of the goods, on a sliding scale with a minimum and a cap. For disputes, it's priced by the duty at stake. You see the written quote, valid for 14 days, before any work starts.
FAQs: Customs & HS Classification
No. We are a Licensed Tax Agent registered with TARC. Your licensed clearing agent clears the goods. We support you and them on classification, valuation and duty disputes.
No. We work alongside the agent you already use. Many clearing agents bring us in when a classification is disputed.
Yes. Checking before the first shipment is the cheapest time to get it right.
Yes. We prepare the full file, including the proposed HS code with its reasoning, the invoice and contract, datasheets, composition and end use, and write to the Commissioner Customs for a ruling on the classification, value and tax treatment. You give the ruling to your clearing agent before the goods land.
A machine shipped in parts that has the essential character of the complete machine is generally classified as the complete machine, and many machinery codes carry 0% duty and no infrastructure levy. Some goods have separate, lower rates when imported unassembled. A ruling before the first shipment fixes the treatment for all the parts.
Depending on the goods: UNBS for standards (pre-export certificates or inspection on arrival), the National Drug Authority, the Ministry of Agriculture for plant and animal products, the Atomic Energy Council for radiation equipment, NEMA, and the Uganda Communications Commission for telecom equipment. Permits go through the Uganda Electronic Single Window. We map them for you before shipping.
Authorised Economic Operator status is URA's programme for trusted traders: faster clearance, choice of examination place, automatic licence renewals and a withholding tax exemption. You need a clean 3-year record across customs and domestic tax, audited accounts, sound records and security standards. URA's validation includes an audit, so we clean up first, then apply.
Yes. EFRIS export invoices carry the HS code, the delivery terms and the customs entry, so the code your clearing agent declares has to match what you invoice. We check both. See EFRIS & VAT.
We prepare the application and the evidence. It is lodged by you or your clearing agent, as the process requires, and we can attend meetings with URA alongside you.
Not sure where you stand? Let's find out, before URA does it for you.
Tell us what's happening. We'll tell you the next step and what it costs, before any work starts.