duty tax

[Thunderchild]

when bringing wine and spirits from italy to england do i have to pay any tax ?

[Will88]

It all depends how many you bring back.

[Thunderchild]

how much is the limit ?

[Buenchico]

When entering the UK from another EU country there are no limits to the quantities of booze that you can bring back (without paying duty or VAT), as long as it's all for your PERSONAL USE. ('Personal use' includes alcohol to be be given as gifts (with nothing expected in return) and drinks, for example, to be consumed at a wedding reception or other party. It excludes drinks which are to be sold to others).

In order to reduce smuggling of drinks intended for sale, Customs issue guidelines as to the quantities that they regard as 'reasonable' for personal consumption. If you're travelling by air, there's no way that you could bring back anything close to these limits without having to pay a massive sum for excess baggage. It's only if you're travelling by road that you need to think about how much you should take on the ferry.

The HMRC guidelines state this:
"You are particularly likely to be asked questions if you have more than . . .110 litres of beer, 90 litres of wine, 10 litres of spirits, 20 litres of fortified wine (such as port or sherry)."

The full text is here:
http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebAp p/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_ pageLabel=pageTravel_ShowContent&id=HMCE_P ROD_010221&propertyType=document

Chris

[Thunderchild]

ok thanks a bunch

[mrsann]

A good tip if you plan to bring back quite a lot is to decant your liquer into plastic bottles as normal glass ones weigh nearly as much empty as do plastic ones full of your favourite tipple.They're also much safer in your luggage provided you make sure to tighten the caps securely!

[Thunderchild]

it won't be that much. afriend was worried that with like 2-3 litres there would be a problem

[mrsann]

No problem at all with more than 3 or 4 litres..I usually bring back that much at least and never had a problem.By the way if the alchohol is under 40% proof it counts as fortified wine i.e.sherry or port.

[ugly_bob]

Yeah, 40% proof = 20% Vol

Also remember that the canaries are not part of the EU - I know you're going to Italy, but just for fututre reference