Application Withdrawal for Excise Warehousekeeper
Summary
HMRC published guidance explaining the process for withdrawing an application to be an excise warehousekeeper for alcohol, tobacco, and vaping products. Applicants may withdraw via the Government Gateway online portal or by post if unable to use digital services. HMRC aims to review withdrawal requests within 45 working days.
What changed
HMRC issued guidance on withdrawing applications to be an excise warehousekeeper for alcohol, tobacco, and vaping products. The guidance clarifies that applicants cannot withdraw once approved and provides instructions for online submission via Government Gateway using the 12-character submission reference, or postal contact as an alternative. The process applies to businesses seeking to store excise goods before duty is paid.
Businesses wishing to withdraw must submit a withdrawal request through the online portal or by post, providing the application type, submission reference, and reason for withdrawal. HMRC will send a confirmation email with a submission reference upon receipt. Review takes up to 45 working days, potentially longer if additional information is required. This is informational guidance with no compliance deadlines or penalties specified.
Source document (simplified)
Guidance
Withdraw your application to be an excise warehousekeeper
Tell HMRC you want to withdraw your excise warehousekeeper application for alcohol, tobacco and vaping products.
From: HM Revenue & Customs Published 1 April 2026 Get emails about this page Print this page
About this form
You need to tell HMRC if you want to withdraw your application to be an excise warehousekeeper for alcohol, tobacco and vaping products.
You cannot withdraw your application if we have already approved it.
What you will need
We will ask you for the:
- type of application that you included in the submission
- submission reference from your original application
- reason for withdrawing the application
Where you can find your submission reference
This is a 12-character code we sent when you submitted the application. For example, ZKF7-D67V-E0QY.
You can find this in the email we sent you after you have applied for approval.
Withdraw your application
Online
To withdraw your application, you need to sign in with your Government Gateway user ID and password.
You can save your progress and come back later.
You’ll get a confirmation email with a submission reference once you have sent the form.
If you cannot use the online form
You can tell us you want to withdraw your application by post if you are not able to use the online form.
Contact us by writing to HMRC.
After you have sent the form
We aim to review the form within 45 working days.
It may take longer if we need to ask you for more information.
Updates to this page
Published 1 April 2026
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