Serious import errors that lead to penalties. How can you avoid them before it is too late?

Table of Contents

1. Critical errors and administrative criteria
   • 1. Importing without an EORI or without prior mandatory registrations
   • 2. Incorrect tariff classification (wrong TARIC)
   • 3. Incorrect declaration of customs value
   • 4. Improper use of reliefs or exemptions
   • 5. Non-compliance with technical or safety regulations
   • 6. Inaccurate declaration of the goods' end use
   • 7. Inconsistent or contradictory documentation
   • 8. Submitting a SAD without finalized documentation
2. Strategic conclusion

A substantial part of penalties in importing into Spain does not arise from sophisticated fraud, but from structural errors made before the goods even leave their country of origin.

The market still treats importing as an operational formality when, in reality, it is a legal procedure with immediate tax and penalty-related effects. Once the goods reach the border, it is already too late to correct the error.

Importing without prior registrations, classifying goods incorrectly, declaring incomplete values, or clearing goods without the correct documentation gives rise to fully defined infringements, with penalties that can far exceed the value of the transaction.

This article identifies the most serious errors repeatedly detected by Customs, explains their regulatory framework, and shows how they are classified and penalized in practice.

Critical errors and administrative criteria

1. Importing without an EORI or without prior mandatory registrations

One of the most basic — and most frequently penalized — errors is clearing goods without meeting the minimum requirements as an operator.

What happens in practice
An attempt is made to import without:

• a valid and active EORI number,
• or without being registered in the mandatory registers depending on the product: WEEE, External Health Control, SOIVRE, CBAM, Excise Duties, etc.

Administrative criteria
There is no valid import without an operator duly established before Customs.

What the regulations say
The Union Customs Code requires the operator to be correctly identified and authorized at the time of customs clearance (Regulation (EU) 952/2013, Arts. 15 and 170), and Law 58/2003, the General Tax Law, Arts. 191 and 198, classifies non-compliance as a punishable infringement.

Considered a serious tax infringement due to non-compliance with essential importer obligations.

Usual consequences

• Fines from 50% to 150% of the amount not paid.
• Additional census-related penalties.
• Blocking of the goods until regularization.
• In certain cases, re-export or destruction at the importer's expense.

2. Incorrect tariff classification (wrong TARIC)

Tariff classification remains one of the main sources of penalties.

Common errors

• Using “cheaper” headings to reduce customs duties.
• Simply copying the foreign supplier’s HS code without adapting it to the EU tariff.

Inspection criteria
An incorrect TARIC is not a minor detail: it is an incorrect calculation basis and is penalized as such.

Regulatory framework
Article 56 of Regulation (EU) 952/2013 establishes that correct classification is the importer’s responsibility, not the supplier’s. Customs considers that this is not an innocent technical error, but a declaration with direct economic impact.

Most frequent penalties

• Full regularization of customs duties and VAT.
• Fines from 50% to 150%.
• Retrospective review of previous imports of the same product.

3. Incorrect declaration of customs value

This is not only about deliberate undervaluation. Many penalties arise from incomplete values.

Typical errors

• Omitting royalties, licence fees, commissions, or indirect payments.
• Using pro forma invoices as the final value.
• Adjusting prices “to make the numbers add up”.

Inspection criteria
The customs value is not negotiated afterwards: it is proven beforehand.

Legal basis
The customs value must be real, complete, and demonstrable: Article 70 of Regulation (EU) 952/2013, Delegated Regulation 2015/2446, and the GATT Customs Valuation Agreement. This is therefore classified as a serious infringement due to reduction of the taxable base.

Consequences

• Additional assessments.
• Fines from 50% to 150%.
• Late-payment interest.
• Aggravation due to fraud in repeated cases.

4. Improper use of reliefs or exemptions

Reliefs are one of the most closely monitored areas.

Frequent errors

• Applying them without meeting all requirements.
• Simulating changes of residence.
• Splitting shipments to avoid limits.

Inspection criteria
Reliefs must be proven with documentation. They are never presumed.

Applicable regulations
Reliefs or exemptions are governed by Regulation (EC) 1186/2009, Regulation (EU) 952/2013, Art. 79, and Law 58/2003, Art. 191.

How it is penalized

• Total loss of the relief.
• Full payment of taxes.
• Fines from 100% to 150%.
• In serious cases, a finding of simulation.

5. Non-compliance with technical or safety regulations

Here, the issue is no longer only fiscal.

Common cases

• Products without valid CE marking.
• Toys not complying with EN 71.
• Electrical devices without RoHS compliance.
• Food or regulated products without prior health registrations.

Inspection criteria
When there is a risk to consumers, the procedure ceases to be merely customs-related and becomes sanctioning in nature.

Legal bases
Considered a very serious administrative infringement of a non-tax nature. The following apply: Regulation (EU) 765/2008, specific sectoral regulations, Law 21/1992 on Industry, and Regulation (EU) 952/2013, Art. 134.

Consequences

• Immediate immobilization.
• Prohibition of marketing.
• Re-export or destruction.
• High administrative fines, which may be cumulative with customs penalties.

These penalties are independent from, and cumulative with, customs and tax consequences.

6. Inaccurate declaration of the goods' end use

Declaring an end use that is not consistent with the objective nature of the product in order to avoid regulatory requirements or specific controls.

Inspection criteria
End use is proven through verifiable facts, not formal declarations.

Legal bases
In this case, we are dealing with a serious infringement due to an inaccurate declaration: Regulation (EU) 952/2013, Art. 15; Law 58/2003, Art. 199; and applicable sectoral regulations.

Usual penalties

• Regulatory reclassification of the product.
• Retroactive application of omitted controls.
• Financial fine.
• Withdrawal from the market if commercialization has already taken place.

7. Inconsistent or contradictory documentation

In this case, we are facing a minor or serious infringement, depending on the economic impact and recurrence.

Inspection criteria
Documentary inconsistency is a direct indicator of the operator’s lack of control.

Typical errors

• Different descriptions on the invoice, packing list, and SAD.
• Inconsistencies in weights, packages, or values.

Usual penalties

• Systematic physical inspections in future operations.
• Financial fines.
• Recurring red channel.

8. Submitting a SAD without finalized documentation

It is a serious mistake to clear goods “to test” or to rely on subsequent corrections. Administratively, this is classified as a serious infringement to which Regulation (EU) 952/2013, Art. 173, and Law 58/2003, Arts. 191 and 199, apply.

Usual penalties

• Financial fine.
• Impossibility of correction without penalty.
• Direct liability of the importer, even when acting through a representative.

The infringement is committed at the moment of declaration.

The SAD is not a draft: it is a responsible declaration with immediate legal effects.

Strategic conclusion

Import penalties are neither random nor exceptional. They are the direct consequence of operations poorly designed from the outset. Customs imposes penalties when the risk was foreseeable and was not managed.

Designing the operation before shipment is not optional: it is the only real and sustainable way to avoid penalties.

If your operations involve recurring imports, regulated goods, or complex structures, a preventive customs audit is the only professionally defensible approach before the inspection does it for you.