Duty Optimisation across Europe.
Most businesses pay more customs duty than they need to. Gaston Schul finds what you are overpaying, applies the reliefs and special procedures you qualify for, and reclaims duty you have already paid, across Europe under one operating model.
DUTY OPTIMISATION
What duty optimisation is, and where the savings hide.
Duty optimisation is the legal reduction of the customs duty your business pays, by getting four things right: how your goods are classified, how they are valued, where they count as originating, and which procedures they move under. Get those right, apply the reliefs you qualify for, and reclaim what you have overpaid.
OUR SERVICES
Every lever to lower your duty.
One independent partner, the full set of duty-saving levers, applied to your goods and run under one operating model across Europe.
Importing goods to process or repair, then re-exporting them? Inward processing suspends the duty and import VAT while the goods are in the EU, so you pay on the value added, not the whole consignment.
Sending goods out for repair or processing? Outward processing means duty is charged only on the value added abroad when they come back, not the full value a second time.
Bringing goods in for a limited time, or for a specific authorised use? Temporary admission and end-use lower or remove the duty for as long as the conditions are met.
Paying duty on a value that is too high? We review your valuation method and what you include, so duty is charged on the correct customs value, not an inflated one.
Already overpaid? We file the objection or repayment claim and recover the duty, where the rules allow and within the time limits.
WHY IT PAYS
The cost of not looking.
Customs duties are one of the few costs in your supply chain you can lawfully reduce. Most businesses never check.
- The reliefs you are not using cost real money. Skip inward processing on goods you re-export and you pay duty and import VAT you never had to, sometimes twice over on a repair. In our experience this is the most commonly missed saving.
- A wrong code compounds. A commodity code one line out does not cost you once, it costs you on every shipment until someone catches it, and customs can look back three years, longer where an offence is involved.
- Valuation is rarely revisited. Royalties, assists, freight and buying commissions are often built into the customs value when they need not be. A valuation review frequently finds duty being paid on money that should never have been in the base.
- Refunds expire. Overpaid duty can be reclaimed, but only within the time limits. The longer an error runs unchecked, the more of the saving is lost for good.
We knew it was a complex case, but Gaston Schul expertise really delivered the result we needed.
RELATED SERVICES
Where your duty savings connect.
Tariff Classification
The commodity code sets the duty rate. Get it right and reviewed, and the first lever of duty saving is already working.
Trade Agreements & Origin
Prove origin and claim preferential duty rates under the trade agreements your goods qualify for.
Authorisations & Licensing
The AEO status and authorisations that unlock special procedures and reduce the guarantees behind them.
VAT & Fiscal Representation
Defer and recover import VAT alongside the duty you save, under one fiscal setup.
Trade Compliance
Keep every saving audit-ready, so a lower duty bill never becomes a compliance question.
Customs Technology
See your duty and customs data in one place, with the customs data analysis to find what you are overpaying.
RESOURCES
Guides & Downloads
Downloadable guides, checklists, insights and tools delivered straight to your mailbox.
Download your Duty Refund guide
RELATED NEWS
Customs & Trade. Controlled.
Gaston Schul does more than find duty savings. We connect it all and run it as one. That is what one full-service operating model gives you, across all your customs and trade in Europe: the clarity to see, the control to govern, and the confidence to decide.
GET IN TOUCH
From duty savings questions to clear answers.
Tell us what you import and from where, and an advisor will tell you where the savings are. No obligation, just a clear answer from someone who knows customs.
Duty Optimisation FAQs
Duty optimisation: frequently asked questions
Duty optimisation is reducing the customs duty your business pays without raising your compliance risk to do it. It is a balance, not just a savings exercise: getting classification, valuation, origin and procedures right, applying the reliefs you qualify for and reclaiming what you have overpaid, while making sure a saving today does not become an audit penalty tomorrow. It is as much a governance decision as a financial one, which is why Gaston Schul both finds the savings and stands behind them when customs looks.
It depends on what you import, from where, and how your customs is set up today. The biggest savings usually come from reliefs you are not using (inward and outward processing), an overstated customs value, or preferential origin you could be claiming. We tell you what is realistic for your goods before you commit, not a figure plucked from the air.
They are mirror images. Inward processing is for goods you bring into the EU to process or repair and then re-export: the duty and import VAT are suspended while the goods are here. Outward processing is for goods you send out of the EU to process or repair and then bring back: duty is charged only on the value added abroad, not the full value again. Which one fits depends on the direction of travel, and we confirm it before we set anything up.
Often, yes, within the time limits. Where a commodity code was wrong, a value was overstated, or a relief was missed, we file the objection or repayment claim and recover the duty. The limits matter: the longer an error runs, the more of the refund is lost, so it is worth checking sooner rather than later.
Yes, it is legal, and done properly it lowers your risk rather than raising it. Duty optimisation uses the reliefs and procedures customs law provides, applied correctly and with the records to support them. The risk comes from the opposite: a wrong code or value left unchecked. Every saving we make is built to stand up in an audit.
No. We can run a duty review and the savings alongside your existing clearance arrangements, or as part of taking on your customs end to end. Either way you keep trading while we find and apply the savings.
Yes. Our own teams cover 14 European markets, with an alliance network reaching further, all under one operating model. So the same review, the same procedures and the same standard apply across Europe, with one partner accountable for the savings. If total customs cost is the bigger question, that is our Visibility and cost control solution
We advise and execute. An accountancy or law firm can tell you a saving exists; we set up the procedure, secure the authorisation, make the correction with customs, and give your team the exact framework to run it safely. And we are independent, privately owned, with no parent company over us and no outside shareholders, so the advice serves your duty bill, not a sales target.