Duty free allocation after Brexit

the_mixer

What's going to happen with the amount of cigarettes and alcohol you can take home from an EU country after we finally leave?
At the moment you can take back about 800 cigarettes or even more, is this going to be reduced to just a single carton of 200? Or will you be alllowed to take the same amount as currently but have to pay more taxes? This is very important as time is running out and the prices here are extortionate in comparison to many other EU countries.

Caz3121

a recent article here https://distincttoday.net/2020/09/11/holidaying-britons-on-their-way-to-eu-countries-will-save-money-under-new-post-brexit-regime/

Westin

the_mixer said:

What's going to happen with the amount of cigarettes and alcohol you can take home from an EU country after we finally leave?
At the moment you can take back about 800 cigarettes or even more, is this going to be reduced to just a single carton of 200? Or will you be alllowed to take the same amount as currently but have to pay more taxes? This is very important as time is running out and the prices here are extortionate in comparison to many other EU countries.

🤣 I can think of a few more elements of negotiating the new trading arrangements with the EU which might be seen as a little more important and deserve more focus at the moment. 

Doshwaster

Just wait for the headlines in the Mail and Express about how British people are being "discriminated against" by not being able to bring back a bootfull of cheap booze from Calais

Alan_Bowen

Duty-free will return but the quid pro quo will be the limited amounts allowed. As yet nothing is cast in stone, let's face it this government appears to be about to leave the EU with no deals, so the biggest problem won't be how much duty-free you can buy, but whether there will be any flights on which to carry them!

Sandtree

the_mixer said:

Or will you be alllowed to take the same amount as currently but have to pay more taxes? 

Would imagine that if you go through the red channel and declare the excess cigarettes they'd simply allow you to pay the duty and VAT to keep them but you are talking a minimum of £6.10 per pack (pack, not carton) of Duty, probably more, and then 20% VAT on a combination of what you paid for them and the duty.

gettingtheresometime

Sandtree said:

the_mixer said:

Or will you be alllowed to take the same amount as currently but have to pay more taxes? 

Would imagine that if you go through the red channel and declare the excess cigarettes they'd simply allow you to pay the duty and VAT to keep them but you are talking a minimum of £6.10 per pack (pack, not carton) of Duty, probably more, and then 20% VAT on a combination of what you paid for them and the duty.

I don't know about the red channel but I've gone through the green channel at Heathrow at various times of the day and on various days of the week and I've never seen any one from Border Force. If people can get an extra box of cigarettes through customs what else can they bring back illegally

bradders1983

Someone will be watching, on camera.

Sandtree

gettingtheresometime said:

Sandtree said:

the_mixer said:

Or will you be alllowed to take the same amount as currently but have to pay more taxes? 

Would imagine that if you go through the red channel and declare the excess cigarettes they'd simply allow you to pay the duty and VAT to keep them but you are talking a minimum of £6.10 per pack (pack, not carton) of Duty, probably more, and then 20% VAT on a combination of what you paid for them and the duty.

I don't know about the red channel but I've gone through the green channel at Heathrow at various times of the day and on various days of the week and I've never seen any one from Border Force. If people can get an extra box of cigarettes through customs what else can they bring back illegally

Even if you go through the red channel there isn't always someone there but there is a telephone to speak to customs if the desk is unmanned when you get there.

The green and blue channels are often unmanned but I am sure big brother is watching and if there is a person of interest that an officer will be there before that person is. When we came through a couple of weeks ago there were actually 3 officers in the green channel, two having a natter and the other walking a sniffer dog around between people but then three out of five terminals at Heathrow are currently closed so probably not spread so thin.

TELLIT01

Border Force have all the time from disembarking, to passport control to luggage collection to monitor passengers.  Much of the incoming baggage may also be x-rayyed if coming from high risk areas.  That happens currently for passengers returning from the Canaries and any other duty free destination.

Sandtree

TELLIT01 said:

Border Force have all the time from disembarking

Given they have flight manifests etc I am sure they have their eyes on certain people before they've even disembarked.

On a broadly unrelated note, I have always wondered what comes up when your passport is swipped, particularly when not in the issuing country.  Mrs is a dual national with her original passport in her maiden name and her UK passport in her married name (changing names isnt as simple as it is here); she always books and flies under her British passport but must show her other passport when going to see the folks. Never once has anything been asked though even though her maiden name won't have been on the flights log etc.