Every code we show you exists
Generic chatbots routinely invent commodity codes that look plausible but don't exist in HMRC's schedule. You find out at the border. TariffFlow only recommends codes that are real, live, and declarable today.
What's in the product
No “coming soon” claims below. Every feature on this page ships in production and is verifiable on any case you run today. Organised the way the product actually works: how you describe a product, how we classify it, what HMRC says about the code, and the audit trail you keep.
Why not just ChatGPT?
Customs classification has right answers — HMRC's answers. Anything less than grounding in the live UK tariff is a guess with a confident voice. These are the specific things TariffFlow does that a general-purpose chat model structurally can't.
Generic chatbots routinely invent commodity codes that look plausible but don't exist in HMRC's schedule. You find out at the border. TariffFlow only recommends codes that are real, live, and declarable today.
A chat model writes from its training data, which is months or years out of date. Anti-dumping rates, preferences, and tariff changes drift constantly. TariffFlow pulls duty, VAT, and measures from HMRC live, on every classification.
A chatbot gives you a code. HMRC demands a declaration — with the right documentation codes, origin controls, and any additional duty measures. TariffFlow surfaces all of it on the same page.
When HMRC audits your declarations, a ChatGPT screenshot isn't evidence. TariffFlow produces a signed, tamper-evident Case Pack PDF with reasoning, alternatives considered, and live tariff data — on every case.
Generic chatbots either don't ask clarifying questions (and guess) or ask too many (and waste your time). TariffFlow asks only when the answer would genuinely change the code — a judgement a generalist model can't make.
UK-specific nomenclature, HMRC conventions, GRI application, and tariff footnotes — versus a general-purpose model trained on the whole internet. Depth beats breadth when the declaration has to be right.
Inputs
Some importers have a rich datasheet. Others have a WhatsApp message from a supplier. Some only have a photo. TariffFlow accepts all three and extracts structured facts from whichever you give it.
Paste whatever you know — a sentence or a paragraph. Structured attributes (material, function, form, use case, packaging) are pulled out before classification starts, so you don't have to fill in a spec form.
Drop a manufacturer datasheet. The text is read directly — spec tables, compliance sections, feature bullets — and fed into the classification context. No retyping spec sheets.
Upload a product photo and TariffFlow writes a structured description before classify runs. Useful when you have the item in hand but no paperwork.
One-click re-run against today's HMRC data for any product you've saved. Fast check when a tariff has changed, a code review is due, or a new shipment of a familiar item needs signing off.
Classification quality
A single AI call asking for a code is what a chatbot gives you. TariffFlow walks the HMRC tariff in the same order a customs broker does, cites the rule it used at each level, and interrogates its own answer before you see it.
Every code you see is checked against the current UK tariff. A chatbot can invent a 10-digit number that looks real and isn't; we don't — ever. If the code doesn't exist or has expired, it doesn't reach your screen.
The recommendation you see has already been challenged internally — a critique pass flags low-evidence picks, wrong-chapter risks, and overlooked alternatives as risk flags on the Case Pack. A chatbot just answers; we interrogate.
Section → chapter → heading → leaf, with the relevant General Rule of Interpretation cited at every step. The same structure a HMRC auditor or customs broker follows when reviewing a classification.
If the answer genuinely depends on something you haven't said (essential character, coated vs plain, knitted vs woven), TariffFlow asks one clarifying question. No busywork — if the facts are clear, it doesn't ask.
Every rejected section, chapter, heading and leaf appears with a reason — "rejected 9506 because fishing tackle is more specifically named in 9507." If it ever comes to audit, the defence is already written.
Live HMRC intelligence
The recommended code triggers a live call to the HMRC Trade Tariff. Duty and VAT are the floor — what TariffFlow actually surfaces is the preferential rates, anti-dumping measures, required documents, origin controls, and footnotes that actually drive your declaration.
Third-country MFN duty and VAT rate fetched from HMRC at the moment you classify — not a cached table that drifts week-on-week.
Every HMRC-published preference for the code — CPTPP, DCTS, UK-EU TCA, UK-Japan CEPA, UK-Australia, UK-Canada, and more. See duty-optimisation opportunities by origin in one place.
Red-banner warning when additional duty applies on top of the headline rate. Critical for steel, chemicals, textiles, and solar products sourced from countries under active measures — the kind of number you don't want to discover at the border.
The C-, Y- and 9-series codes HMRC requires on your customs declaration, each with the full description. Most tools make you look these up manually; we include them on every Case Pack.
Licence requirements, sanctions markers, import controls on luxury goods, export controls for dual-use technology — flagged by origin so you know before the shipment moves.
Some codes require you to declare in pairs, kilograms, number of items, or litres alongside value. We tell you which unit HMRC expects — a missing supplementary unit is a common border rejection.
HMRC updates codes every year. If the leaf you picked has a scheduled end date, the Case Pack prints "this code is scheduled to change on DATE" directly below the recommendation.
Every Case Pack points to HMRC's official BTI service for the code. If the classification matters enough to be certain, the next step is one click away.
HMRC attaches footnotes to codes carrying licence conditions, export controls, quotas, and special provisions. TariffFlow surfaces them verbatim — the fine print nobody else shows.
Audit trail
A classification without a paper trail is a liability at audit time. Every TariffFlow case produces a structured, portable, and tamper-evident record — ready for a customs broker's file, a HMRC review pack, or a client's finance team.
A three-page audit record: cover + reasoning walk + signature page. Printable, shareable, and structured the way a customs broker expects to see a classification defended.
Every Case Pack carries a public verification link. Any third party — auditor, broker, HMRC officer — can confirm the PDF has not been edited since issue, without needing a TariffFlow account.
Send a clean, read-only view to finance, a broker, or a client. No account required. Free-tier shares carry a watermark; paid tiers don't.
Every saved classification is searchable by name or code. Look up what you decided last time, re-run it against current HMRC data, or hand the record to an auditor in seconds.
Every Case Pack, share link, and response carries the "AI-assisted, verify before customs submission" disclosure. This is decision-support — not a binding ruling — and we're explicit about it.
Free tier runs the full reasoning walk with live HMRC duty and VAT. No card required.