Buying tobacco from Italy on eBay

raa_thistle

I am buying a box with 25 cigars in from italian eBay and I am not sure what the import duty implications of this are. If the seller puts the price i paid them on it will I only get charged the duty on that or on the current retail price? will I have to pay any duty at all ( I have had a look on the HMRC site but it is clear as mud).

thanks

Justicia

What is the value (that you paid/will pay) of the item(s)?

raa_thistle

its about 75 euros plus postage.

Bernie

Surely if you are buying from within the EU, all taxes will have been paid!

raa_thistle

I hope so but to be honest it wouldn't surprise me if you would get stung for something.

martindow

This is from the customs and excise site
http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageLibrary_ShowContent&id=HMCE_PROD_008556&propertyType=document#P7_592

Is it legal to buy tobacco over the internet from another European Community country?

Yes, but ONLY if the UK VAT and excise duty is paid on the goods. The person who sells the goods must make arrangements for these taxes to be paid before they are sent to you. If you are a customer, it is in your interests to ensure this has been done, otherwise the goods are liable to forfeiture by Customs at the postal depot.

Even if some duties should be payable I don't know how it would be picked up unless your seller declares it as there would normally be no customs declaration needed within the EC.

raa_thistle

Thanks very much

cosmokramer2004

raa_thistle wrote:

I am buying a box with 25 cigars in from italian eBay and I am not sure what the import duty implications of this are. If the seller puts the price i paid them on it will I only get charged the duty on that or on the current retail price? will I have to pay any duty at all ( I have had a look on the HMRC site but it is clear as mud).

thanks

Selling of tobacco is prohibited on ebay so I'd be extremely wary of buying.

The UK ebay rules on the matter: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/tobacco.html

The Italian ebay rules: http://pages.ebay.it/help/policies/tobacco.html

novelli

try https://www.cqout.co.uk

excellent for tobacco and you are protected.

no idea how they get away with it??

phatbear

CQout manage to get away with it because they are pretty much un-regulated it appears theres nothing you cant buy on there.

It may also be worth noting that not only is selling tobacco or tobacco products without a tobacco licenence an offence, but so is purchasing it, which, if caught would mean you would end up with a record with H.M Customs, on top of losing the goods.

Also there are an awful lot of counterfeit cigs doing the rounds on both cqout, local markets etc, these may appear to be legit and nice and cheap but our tests have shown that on average they contain approx 20x the amount of arsenic as a "normal" cig along with a lot of other nasty extra bits and pieces that you really wouldnt want in your mouth.

All the best

The Bear

tigermatt

ebay have said that there is a strict ban on the selling/purchasing of such goods due to the tax implications already mentioned. (http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/tobacco.html)

I recommend you don't bid and you report the item to eBay as a prohibited listing.