Agnieszka Hartleb v HMRC: Excise Duty Dispute in UK Transport Business (2024)

• Agnieszka Hartleb, trading as Hartleb Transport, had her lorry seized at Dover with three pallets of cigarettes for which no duty had been paid
• HMRC issued an excise duty assessment and penalty against Hartleb Transport
• The Upper Tribunal had to determine who was the “holder” of the excise goods
• Factors considered included physical possession, de facto or legal control, timing of excise duty points, and where the goods were being held
• The UT found that Hartleb was the holder of the excise goods as she had control over their transportation through her employee
• Physical possession alone is not determinative in such cases.

Source: rpc.co.uk

Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.

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