Importing Tarot Decks from Japan: UK Duty, VAT and Paperwork

If you are a UK retailer thinking about stocking Japanese tarot and oracle decks, the customs side is simpler than most people expect. This guide sets out exactly what applies, with the official sources, so you can price a first order accurately before you place it.

The short version

• Customs duty: 0%. Under the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, playing cards of Japanese origin enter the UK at a preferential rate of 0.00%. Without claiming the preference, the rate would be 2.00%.
• Import VAT: 20%, charged on the customs value plus duty and freight. If you are VAT registered, this is recoverable, and Postponed VAT Accounting lets you avoid paying it in cash at the border altogether.
• No UKCA marking, no CE marking, no EN 71 toy testing. Tarot and oracle decks sold to adults fall outside the Toys (Safety) Regulations 2011.
• You will need an EORI number. We do not.

What commodity code applies

The working classification is 9504 40 00 00 — Playing cards. The UK Trade Tariff does not list "tarot" or "oracle cards" as separate terms, so a boxed deck with a booklet is classified on its essential character, which is the cards.

Some importers instead use 4911 99 00 00 — Other printed matter, on the basis that a divination deck is not a game. In practice the outcome is the same for a Japanese-origin shipment: 4911 99 00 00 carries a third country duty of 0.00% in any case.

If you want certainty in writing, you can apply to HMRC for an Advance Tariff Ruling, which is legally binding. For a first trial order it is not usually worth the wait.

Duty: how to get the 0% rate

The 0% preferential rate is not automatic. It has to be claimed on the import declaration, and it has to be supported by proof of origin. Under the UK-Japan agreement there are two accepted routes:

1. A statement on origin made out by the exporter. No customs authority certification is required — this is a self-declaration.
2. Importer's knowledge, where you hold the evidence yourself.

The first route is the normal one, and it is the one we use. The statement is printed on the commercial invoice using the prescribed wording, and it includes the origin criterion code, the exporter's reference number and the period covered. A statement remains valid for 12 months from the date it is made out, so a single statement can cover repeat shipments within a year.

One useful exemption: for consignments from Japan to the UK with a value under £1,000, no statement on origin is required at all. Sample orders and small first orders often fall under this line.

Our decks are printed and finished in Japan from paper, which is a change of tariff heading, so they meet the origin rule for this chapter without needing a value calculation.

Import VAT and how not to pay it up front

Import VAT is charged at the standard rate of 20%. The taxable amount is the customs value, plus any duty, plus incidental costs such as freight and insurance up to the place of destination.

If you are VAT registered in the UK, use Postponed VAT Accounting. It needs no approval and no application. Instead of paying import VAT in cash when the goods clear, you declare it and reclaim it on the same VAT Return, which makes the cash flow effect nil. Two conditions apply: the goods must be for your business, and your VAT number must appear on the import declaration.

If a customs agent handles clearance for you, tell them in writing that you want to use Postponed VAT Accounting. They will not assume it.

The £135 threshold, and why it rarely matters for trade orders

For consignments valued at £135 or less, UK VAT is normally charged by the seller at the point of sale rather than at the border. For business buyers there is a shortcut: if you give us your UK VAT registration number, the supply is reverse charged. We do not charge VAT, the invoice is marked accordingly, and you account for the VAT on your own return and recover it at the same time.

Above £135, normal import procedures apply. Most wholesale orders sit well above this line, so in practice you are in the standard import VAT and Postponed VAT Accounting route described above.

EORI numbers

You will need a GB EORI number to import. It is free and issued by HMRC. As the Japanese exporter, we do not need one, because you are the importer of record.

The exception is a Delivered Duty Paid arrangement where the seller acts as importer. We do not offer DDP into the UK for this reason.

What paperwork you receive from us

Every shipment travels with:

• A commercial invoice showing the invoice number and date, both parties' full details, a description of the goods, the commodity code, country of origin, quantities and weights, unit and total prices with currency, payment terms and Incoterms, and the statement on origin where applicable.
• A packing list showing how the consignment is packed, what is in each carton, and the weight and dimensions of each carton.

Keep the commercial invoice and your C79 import VAT certificate. HMRC expects you to hold these.

Product safety: these are not toys

This is the question that stops most retailers, so it is worth being precise about it.

The Toys (Safety) Regulations 2011 apply to products designed or intended for use in play by children under 14. Tarot and oracle decks sold to adults do not meet that definition. As a result:

• No EN 71 toy safety testing is required.
• No UKCA marking is required. UKCA applies only to specified regulated categories, and card decks are not among them.
• No CE marking is required either.
• There is no toy-regulation obligation to display an age grading or age warning.

What does apply is the General Product Safety Regulations 2005, the catch-all framework covering consumer products with no sector-specific rules. That means a general safety requirement and traceability information identifying the producer.

One caveat worth understanding rather than ignoring. The test is design and intent, not product type. A deck marketed to children in a way that reads as a children's product could be pulled into the toy regulations. Our licensed character editions are designed and sold as adult collectables, and are packaged accordingly.

If you are in the EU or Northern Ireland

The rules diverge here. The EU's General Product Safety Regulation (EU) 2023/988 has applied since 13 December 2024. It requires that a responsible economic operator established in the EU exists for the product before it can be placed on the EU market, and that their contact details appear on the product or its packaging. CE marking is still not required, because card decks are not a harmonised product category.

Great Britain has no equivalent in-market responsible person requirement. Northern Ireland follows the EU rules, so the point is live for NI.

If you are an EU retailer or distributor, this is worth raising with us at the quotation stage rather than after shipping, because it affects how the packaging is prepared.

A worked example

An order with a customs value of £1,000, shipped to your door:

The £224 is declared and recovered on the same VAT Return. Without claiming the Japan preference, the same order would carry £20 of duty and slightly more VAT on top.

Sources

• UK Trade Tariff, commodity 9504 40 00 00 — trade-tariff.service.gov.uk
• UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement summary — gov.uk
• Postponed VAT Accounting — gov.uk
• EORI numbers — gov.uk
• Toys (Safety) Regulations 2011 guidance — gov.uk

Rates and rules were checked against the sources above in August 2026. This is general guidance for planning an order, not tax or customs advice. Confirm the position with your customs agent or accountant before you rely on it, and note that classification can be settled definitively only by an Advance Tariff Ruling.