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Finally, the long-promused increases have arrived!From HMRC website:
From 1 December 2008, when travelling from a non-EU country (including the Canary Islands, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar) you can bring the following into the UK for your own use without paying UK tax or duty:
200 cigarettes; or 100 cigarillos; or 50 cigars; or 250g of tobacco
4 litres of still table wine
16 litres of beer
1 litre of spirits or strong liqueurs over 22 per cent volume; or 2 litres of fortified wine (such as port or sherry), sparkling wine or other alcoholic beverages of less than 22 per cent volume and
£300 worth of all other goods including perfume and souvenirs.
If you have any more than these allowances you must declare the goods in the red channel or use the red point phone. If you do not, you are breaking the law and we may prosecute you.
From 1 January 2009, the other goods allowance will increase again from £300 to £340. However, there will be no further increases to any of the other allowances.
Additionally, from 1 December you can combine some of your alcohol or tobacco allowances, and there is a lower other goods allowance for passengers travelling by private plane or boat for pleasure purposes.
Please note that there are conditions that apply to your allowances. These include:
If you are under 17 you cannot have the tobacco and alcohol allowances.
You are entitled to these allowances only if you travel with the goods and do not sell them.
If you bring in something worth more than your other goods allowance, you must pay charges on the full value, not just the value above the allowance.
You and anyone you are travelling with cannot pool your individual other goods allowances to bring in an item worth more than the limit. The person bringing the item in will have to pay charges on the full value of the item.
If you also have tobacco or alcohol goods that you bought in an EU country, you will not have to pay any more duty or tax on these so long as:
they are for your own use;
you can show, if we ask you to, that you have paid duty and tax in an EU country, for example by producing the receipt; and
they do not exceed any limits that may apply to imports of tobacco products from that EU country.
If you are bringing your personal belongings or your car into the UK from outside the EU, see Notice 3. Bringing your belongings and private motor vehicle into the UK from outside the EC.
Air transfers. If you arrive by air and are transferring to a flight to another EU country, at the transfer point you need only declare goods in your hand baggage. You do not declare your hold baggage until you collect it at your final destination.
The same usually applies if you are transferring to a UK domestic flight. But in some cases we must clear both your hand luggage and hold baggage at the transfer airport. The airline will tell you when this is necessary.
