Information just in from HMRC
...many thanks to them.
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If you are thinking of going across the Channel to replenish beers, wines, spirits or tobacco products, there are no limits on the amounts of duty and tax paid goods you can bring back personally from another EU country, as long as they are for your own use and not sold on. You may, however, be asked questions at the UK frontier if you have more than 110 litres of beer, 90 litres of wine, 10 litres of spirits and/or 20 litres of fortified wines, 3,200 cigarettes, 200 cigars, 400 cigarillos or 3kg of tobacco. This is to confirm that these are genuinely for your own use.
1. The duty-free limits for imports of alcohol and tobacco products from outside the EU are:
Alcohol allowances
You can bring in either, but not both, of the following:
· 1 litre of spirits or strong liqueurs over 22 per cent volume.
· 2 litres of fortified wine (such as port or sherry), sparkling wine or any other alcoholic drink that's less than 22 per cent volume.
Or you can combine these allowances. For example, if you bring in one litre of fortified wine (half your full allowance) you can also bring in half a litre of spirits (half your full allowance). This would make up your full allowance. You can't go over your total alcohol allowance.
In addition you may also bring back both of the following:
· 16 litres of beer
· 4 litres of still wine
Tobacco allowances
You can bring in one from the following list:
· 200 cigarettes
· 100 cigarillos
· 50 cigars
· 250g of tobacco
Or you can combine these allowances. For example, if you bring in 100 cigarettes (half your full allowance) you can also bring in 25 cigars (half your full allowance). This would make up your full tobacco allowance. You can't go over your total tobacco allowance.
2. When travelling to the UK from outside the EU, if you bring in any single item worth more than the £390 goods allowance, you must pay duty and/or tax on the full item value, not just the value above the allowance. You also cannot group individual allowances together to bring in an item worth more than the limit.
3. Further information on postal imports and travellers' allowances can be found at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/index.htm