You can apply for funding for up to 100% of the costs as detailed above, provided you can confirm this would not increase the total amount of any grants you have received above the de-minimis state aid received limit of €200,000 threshold in any three years. De-minimis aid is defined in the EU Commission's Regulation No 1407/2013.
Available to all organisations, who meet the eligibility criteria, to cover up to 100% of eligible IT costs
The IT grant will provide funding towards purchasing the first year license of a packaged software solution to increase the automation or productivity of your organisation in completing customs declarations. The funding can also be used:
- To buy hardware that’s needed for the software to run;
- To install and configure the software and hardware;
- For related software training.
All expenditure must be reasonable, appropriate and at normal commercial rates.
VAT registered organisations will be paid the net value of their expenditure and non-VAT registered organisations will be paid the gross value.
- Expenditure not directly related to increasing capacity or productivity within the customs brokerage function relative to preparations for future customs arrangements;
- Bespoke software packages. Only commercial off the shelf (COTS) software is eligible. COTS is defined as packaged solutions that either run unmodified or can be adapted to satisfy the needs of the organisation rather than the commissioning of custom-made, or bespoke solutions;
- Network costs; and
- Costs relating purely to IT expenditure to facilitate the transition from interfacing with the CHIEF system (Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight) to the new CDS (Customs Declaration Service) system.
Please note, qualifying expenditure must have been made on or after the announcement of the additional £50m funding on 12 June 2020 and must be evidenced, in full, on submission of your claim for payment. The claim for payment including acceptable evidence of expenditure must be submitted within two calendar months of the grant offer being issued, and by 31 August 2021 at the latest.