Posting tobacco to UK

[amtaff]

I am going to The Netherlands for a holiday and want to post a few pouches of Dutch tobacco to friends around the U.K. I will be paying duty in retail shops and will not be sending large amounts, certainly less than what is allowed if I was bringing them through Customs. Will I fall foul of any laws or Royal Mail rules?

[hc4361]

The receiver will need to pay excise duty.

4.5 Can I receive alcohol and tobacco from
the EU?

If you receive alcohol and tobacco by post on a commercial basis this is known as 'distance selling', and there is a liability to both excise duty and import VAT. The sender should have made prior arrangements to account for these taxes no later than the date of despatch from the exporting Member State. It is in your own interests to ensure these arrangements have been completed otherwise the goods may be liable to forfeiture. You can find more information about this in Notice 203 Registered Excise Dealers and Shippers, and on our website.

If you receive goods that are for your own personal use, for example, a gift from another person, or you have posted them to yourself from another EU Member State, there will be a liability to excise duty but not import VAT. The UK excise duty must again be secured before the goods are sent, using the ‘distance selling’ procedure. If you are in doubt about the duty liability of goods you have received you should contact the Excise Helpline on 0845 010 9000.

[amtaff]

Thans. It sounds terribly complicated!

[hc4361]

If it weren't everybody would be getting their expat friends to send supplies on a regular basis.

[society]

So many rules and regulations to spend ones own money...

[Buenchico]

To put some figures to Hc4361's post:

The excise duty on hand-rolling tobacco is currently £129.59 per Kg. So if you send a friend a 50g pouch, there will be £6.48 to pay in excise duty. You're meant to ensure that the duty has been paid to HMRC BEFORE you post the tobacco, otherwise it could be seized. In practice the tobacco would probably be allowed to be sent forward to your friend but he'd then have to pay £14.48 because he'd have to pay an £8 customs examination fee on top of the duty.

Chris