The code red message states: 

The Customs declarations have not been arrived, and Border Force is holding me on instruction from HMRC – Help!!! 

As the night hangs in the balance, the elf logistics team is now in full high-priority response mode, collating the Christmas carriage mode by reindeer (CMR) document and the DDP incoterm invoices for all the presents Father Christmas is delivering to the children on the nice list. The most important thing is to check that the Customs declarations have been arrived and cleared correctly. 

A frantic message was sent back to Father Christmas: 

The Customs declarations have been arrived and are Customs cleared; we can provide evidence. We will be sending these through to you now, the message said. 

Thinking that this was simply a clerical error on HMRC’s behalf, and that Father Christmas would be released and on his way, the elves and the elf logistics team carried on their Christmas Eve tradition of carolling and drinking mulled wine, toasting another successful year of bringing cheer to others. After all, this has never happened before, so what could possibly go wrong? 

Little did they know that Father Christmas would not be released; after all, HMRC had been waiting a full 12 months to speak to him over non-compliance. 

"Non-compliance?” asks Father Christmas. “The Customs declarations are arrived and cleared and I have provided you with the evidence that the elves have given me.” 

“That is right,” HMRC explained. “The presents have   cleared for 2025, but we are not looking at this year’s declarations; it is last year’s, 2024, that have never been arrived and then cleared.” 

Father Christmas gasps - “Oh dear, I'd best ask my elves!” 

So, Father Christmas sends another message back to the North Pole, “It is the Customs declarations from 2024 they are telling me, please help!” 

As you can imagine, this caused the team back at the North Pole to panic again. "How can this have happened?" shouted the chief of elf logistics, Barnaby Twinkletoes, interrupting his tasty stollen and mulled wine. “Where are the cleared Customs declarations on the Christmas Declaration Service (CDS)?”  

Guess what? They are not there. 

The presents had all been delivered in 2024, but the entries are no longer in the system. “They were!!!” shouts Barnaby, now rather frustrated. They may have been at the time of submission, but because they had not been arrived within the 30-day period, they had timed out and disappeared from the system. 

Due to a clerical error, the Customs declarations were not linked to GVMS (Goods Vehicle Movement Service), so that when Father Christmas and his sleigh arrived in the UK, the Customs declarations were not automatically arrived. 

The Christmas Declaration Service Customs declarations are always pre-lodged declarations with all the relevant information included within the declaration. This is because they are being imported from outside the UK, so duties and VAT will always apply. 

This was a simple oversight, indeed one in which they have been navigating since 2021. Now, HMRC is going to issue a demand notice for duties and VAT, plus a civil penalty, to Father Christmas. 

Mrs Claus, at this point, is urgently coordinating with the elf logistics team. She sends another message back to Father Christmas. 

“What do we need to do?” Thinking that they could re-issue the Customs declarations for 2024. 

The answer from HMRC is simple: no, you cannot issue new Customs declarations. HMRC will be issuing a ‘right to be heard’ letter immediately before issuing the C18 demand notice. 

There and then, unfortunately, it appears that Father Christmas accepts the fact that this is a costly error, and one that cannot be delayed any further. 

Mrs Claus pays the outstanding duties to HMRC, along with the civil penalty for non-compliance. 

Although feeling downbeat, the Christmas spirit will live on. Presents will still be delivered, and those on the nice list will still wake up to surprise gifts under the tree. The elves will get a long rest before getting back to spending 2026 working away in the toy shop, to do it all again for next year. 

This will, however, be a reminder, and a big one at that, for Barnaby and the rest of the logistics team, to make sure that everything is in order before Father Christmas arrives with his presents. 

Mrs Claus has now given herself a new title – Head of Compliance, after all, the sleigh may defy gravity, but it cannot defy HMRC! 

Merry Christmas, all.