The import DUA is the customs declaration that releases goods arriving from outside the European Union for free circulation in Spain. Today it is an electronic H1 message to the AEAT, the Spanish tax and customs agency, filed by the importer or its customs representative. The goods are released once the debt is paid or guaranteed.
H1 is the data set of the import declaration under the Union Customs Code (UCC). On registration, the AEAT gives it an MRN: the number used to look it up, pay it and provide documents. A company based outside Spain needs an EORI number and, in most cases, a customs representative in Spain to file it.
All about customs → EORI number → Import VAT →The standard declaration (type A) is the usual one. The simplified declaration is filed with fewer data and completed later; the one pending activation is filed ahead of the goods' arrival.
| Type | Declaration | When it is used |
|---|---|---|
| A | Standard (DAC) | The usual one: all the import data in a single message, with the goods already presented to customs. |
| PDI | Incomplete pre-declaration | Obtains the MRN with few data. It is then completed with the standard declaration (operation P). |
| D | Standard, pending activation (DPA) | Filed before the goods arrive. The operator or customs activates it; until then it has a CRN, not an MRN. |
| B | Simplified (SAC) | Fewer data at filing. It is completed later with the supplementary declaration X. |
| E | Simplified, pending activation (SPA) | Like the DPA, in simplified form. Types C and F have been closed since 31 December 2023. |
| X | Supplementary to the simplified declaration | Completes a type B simplified declaration that has already been released. |
| V, Z | Supplementary to entries in the declarant's records | Cover goods entered in the declarant's records (I2 notification). |
| H7 | Low-value consignments | A different data set, for e-commerce. It is not a “small H1”. |
General information; not customs advice.
The party that brings the goods into the Union. It is identified by its EORI number (Economic Operators Registration and Identification) and sees the debt in the AEAT online office (Sede). A company based outside the Union needs an EORI number before it can import.
Files the DUA for the importer. In direct representation it acts in the name and on behalf of the importer; in indirect representation, in its own name but on behalf of the importer (art. 18 of the UCC). Without a clearance authorisation, the AEAT rejects the declaration.
The person in whose name the declaration is filed. In indirect representation, the declarant is the representative itself.
Anyone can pay the debt. Only the importer and the representative that took part in the declaration can view it in the Sede.
Health, Agriculture or Trade (SOIVRE) issue the control certificates the goods require. The operator requests them in each agency's system and declares them on the item.
You need the importer's EORI number, an electronic certificate and a program that builds the H1 message and sends it to the AEAT's customs web services. Whoever files for others also needs customs clearance authorisation as a representative. Otherwise, a customs representative files it.
| How | What it involves | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Customs software connected to the AEAT | Builds the H1 message (CC415A) and sends it to the customs web services, signed with an electronic certificate. Before lodging it, it can be validated with the test indicator set to “S”. | Customs representatives, freight forwarders and frequent importers. |
| A customs representative | You hand over the invoice, the transport document, the packing list and the certificates, and they file the DUA in your name (direct representation) or in their own (indirect). | Occasional importers. |
General information; not customs advice.
Declaring a document means entering its code and reference in the header or on the item. Attaching the PDF is something else: it goes through a separate service and does not replace the declared reference.
| Document | How it enters the H1 |
|---|---|
| Commercial invoice | Reference N380, in the header or on the item. |
| Previous document (temporary storage declaration, DDT, N337) | Reference of the temporary storage declaration on each item, with its packages and kilos. Without it, a type A declaration is rejected. |
| Transport document (B/L, CMR, AWB) | Its reference is declared separately. The original is kept in the file. |
| Packing list | Original recommended, to match the packages and weights of each item. |
| Freight, insurance and value adjustments | Valuation data inside the H1, with supporting documents. The old DV1 is no longer filed: its data go in the H1 and code N934 is not declared (AEAT notice of 18-09-2025). |
| Certificates of origin, licences and controls | Code and reference on the item (group 12 03, the former box 44). If missing at registration, they are provided later with the SUP_DOC service. |
| Payment letter (form 031) and NRC | Proof of payment. Attaching it does not grant release. |
The AEAT checks automatically that the declared certificate exists, belongs to that operator and covers those goods. The operator requests it from the agency and declares its code on the item.
TRACES NTC678 · 1405 Border health (Sanidad Exterior) Food and feed of non-animal origin: common health entry document (CHED, DSCE in Spanish) in TRACES NT, or 1405 if Health finds the control “not applicable”. 
TRACES NTC640 · N853 Veterinary Products of animal origin: control at the border control post, requested in TRACES NT. The CHED is declared. 
CEXVEGN851 · 1414 Phytosanitary Plants: inspection by Agriculture. N851 is declared, or 1414 if the inspection is not applicable. 
PUE1235 · 1236 · C644 SOIVRE Conformity, quality and organic products: requested from Trade through the Single Point of Entry (PUE). Products under RD 330/2008 still use the 1310 from ESTACICE. 
The previous document, the invoice and the valuation data are gathered. The AEAT test mode (test indicator “S”) validates the declaration without registering it.
The AEAT registers the declaration and assigns it the MRN (movement reference number). If it finds errors, it rejects it with a code, and it is corrected in a new submission.
Green: no control, and the assessment arrives with acceptance. Orange or red: customs checks before release and notifies the debt when it finishes.
The AEAT recalculates duties and VAT and returns the official assessment, with the payment letter number (form 031) and the payment deadline.
With the debt guaranteed (payment R) or paid (payment A), the AEAT grants release with its CSV, and the goods are at the importer's disposal.
The declaration proposes the taxes for each item; the AEAT recalculates them, and its assessment is the one that counts. A miscalculated figure is a rejection, not an overpayment.
| Code | Tax | How it is calculated |
|---|---|---|
| A00 | Customs duty | Specific, ad valorem or mixed, according to the TARIC measure for the item. |
| A30 | Anti-dumping duty | Only when TARIC imposes it on that product and that origin. |
| F00 | Union handling fee | €2 per item on distance sales of imported goods, from 1 November 2026, also above €150. It is part of the VAT base. |
| B00 | Import VAT | On the customs value plus the duty. With deferred VAT it is not paid at customs: it is declared in form 303. |
| 1PL | Tax on non-reusable plastic packaging | €0.45 per kilo of non-reusable plastic in the goods. |
General information; the rates for each product come from TARIC.
Ten calendar days from notification of the debt, or thirty if it was guaranteed (art. 108 of the UCC). One payment method per declaration; payment from the AEAT online office (Sede) or at a bank.
Rejections repeat, and almost all can be checked before sending: previous document, consistency between header and items, and representation.
| Code | What it means | How to avoid it |
|---|---|---|
| 20202 | Previous document missing in a type A declaration | Declare the DDT (N337) or another previous document on each item. |
| 21151 | The status of the summary declaration or the DDT prevents the operation | Check that the DDT is available before filing. |
| 21370 | Wrong format of the N337 reference | Copy the DDT reference exactly as the AEAT gives it. |
| 21362 · 21162 | Packages or kilos in the N337 differ from those on the item | Split the DDT packages and kilos across the items. |
| 25602 | Container indicator inconsistent with the containers declared | If there are containers, the indicator is 1 and each container carries its items. |
| 10309 | Representation without clearance authorisation | Check the representative's authorisation before sending. |
| 50426 | Nature of transaction declared at two levels | A consignment data element goes in the header or on every item, never both. |
| 2812 | Ad valorem base wrongly calculated | Recalculate the base on the customs value of the item. |
| 80700 | Attempt to amend a declaration that cannot be amended | A standard declaration already accepted is not changed with an amendment (operation M). |
DUA and H1, MRN, payment deadlines, prior validation, amendments, missing certificates, deferred VAT and the former DV1.
Import VAT → →In practice, yes. DUA (documento único administrativo, single administrative document) is the long-standing name of the customs declaration. Since the Union Customs Code (UCC, Regulation 952/2013), imports are filed as an electronic message with the H1 data set, not as a paper form.
The movement reference number the AEAT assigns when it registers the declaration. It is used to look the declaration up, pay it and provide documents. Before registration, the declaration only has the LRN (a local reference of up to 22 characters set by the filer). A declaration pending activation has a CRN, which matches the MRN it will have once activated.
Ten calendar days from notification of the debt, or thirty if it was guaranteed (art. 108 of the UCC). The AEAT gives the exact date in the assessment. After the deadline, enforced collection begins.
Yes. The AEAT accepts the same message with the test indicator set to “S”: it validates the declaration against its rules and returns the errors without registering it.
An accepted standard declaration cannot be amended with a new amendment message: the AEAT replies with error 80700. What can be amended or cancelled, while still pending, is an incomplete pre-declaration or a declaration pending activation.
The AEAT registers the declaration without release and states which documents it requires on each item. The operator provides them later with the SUP_DOC service; once all are in, the AEAT grants release.
No. A business authorised for deferred VAT (art. 167.Dos of the Spanish VAT Act) does not pay it at customs: it declares it in its VAT return, form 303. The AEAT response shows it separately from the amount to pay.
No. The data of the former valuation declaration are part of the H1, and since the AEAT notice of 18 September 2025 code N934 cannot be declared.
A program that builds the H1 message (CC415A) and sends it to the AEAT's customs web services with an electronic certificate. Customs representatives and freight forwarders use one; occasional importers usually hand it to a representative. Either way, the importer needs an EORI number.
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