Overseas tax

bullseye38

On travelling to Mexico 2 weeks ago there were 4 adults in our party we purchased 800(200 per person allowance) cigarettes in total and were in one bag.  My husband was stopped and forced to pay over £350 in tax he tried to explain that there were 4 in our party 200 each but would not let him through till he paid is there anything I can do?

eskbanker

Seems harsh but does sound like a technical breach of the rules:

https://www.gov.uk/bringing-goods-into-uk-personal-use/arriving-in-Great-Britain

If you’re travelling to Great Britain (England, Wales or Scotland) from outside the UK, your personal allowances mean you can bring in a certain amount of goods without paying tax or duty.

When you’re bringing in goods you must:

• transport them yourself
• use them yourself or give them away as a gift

If you go over your allowances you must declare all your goods and pay tax and duty on all the goods in that category.

[...]

You cannot combine your personal allowance with anyone else.

and the duty on tobacco is prohibitive:

https://www.gov.uk/tax-on-shopping/alcohol-tobacco

Tobacco Duty

You pay different rates of Tobacco Duty on cigarettes, cigars and other tobacco products.

Tobacco product	Rate
Cigarettes	16.5% of the retail price plus £5.26 on a packet of 20

Not sure if there's any avenue for appeal though....

Edit: I'm assuming that your post relates to arriving back in the UK from Mexico, based on your reference to payment in sterling, but 'overseas tax' could imply Mexican tax and you do refer to travel to Mexico, so worth clarifying where this tax was charged.

onashoestring

Why did each individual not carry their own allowance through customs ?  I understand that a couple might share the allowance and put them in one bag but by all 4 passengers putting their allowance all in one individuals luggage it would appear to customs that the cigarettes were not actually for each of the 4 individuals but were actually only for the use of the 1 passenger ( and therefore exceeded the personal allowance ) . 

The only way to challenge this would have been for Customs Officer to check all the luggage of all 4 in the group at the time to substantiate the claim that your husband was carrying 4 peoples allowance of cigarettes and that no one else in the group was transporting any cigarettes. I guess they don’t have time to search everyone’s luggage- hence the rule that it is a personal allowance and must be transported yourself and if you are found to have more than you are entitled to bring into U.K. you must pay the tax due. 

sheramber

If you go over your allowances you must declare all your goods and pay tax and duty on all the goods in that category.

Example

If you bring in:

• 200 cigarettes and 50 cigars, you must pay tax and duty on both the cigarettes and the cigars because you have gone over your allowance in the tobacco category
• 19 litres of wine, you must pay tax and duty on all of it because you have gone over your 18 litre allowance for wine

You cannot combine your personal allowance with anyone else.

https://www.gov.uk/bringing-goods-into-uk-personal-use/arriving-in-Great-Britain

phatbear

Your husband wouldn't be "forced" to pay anything, assuming he was entering the UK, he could have let the goods go and gone on his merry way. 

onashoestring

As above - he could have left the other peoples  cigarettes behind or asked the other passengers to pay the tax due for carrying their cigarettes through. 

bullseye38 said:

….is there anything I can do?

Advise you husband only to carry his personal allowance on any future trips . He is highly likely to be stopped and have his bags searched by customs every time he arrives back in UK from now on. 

phatbear

onashoestring said:

As above - he could have left the other peoples  cigarettes behind or asked the other passengers to pay the tax due for carrying their cigarettes through. 

bullseye38 said:

….is there anything I can do?

Advise you husband only to carry his personal allowance on any future trips . He is highly likely to be stopped and have his bags searched by customs every time he arrives back in UK from now on. 

it doesnt quite work that way the allowance has been exceeded therefore the whole amount become liable to forfeiture, including the 200 which the passenger is allowed (sect 141 Customs and Excise Management Act).