Cigarettes on plane

TheW

Hi,
I'm travelling from gran canaria to ireland and was wondering if anyone knows how many cigarettes i can take back per person?
thanks

CantGetNoSleep

200 I think?

TheW

i was in ibiza recently and i thought i saw a sign in the airport saying 1600??
but I'm remembering correctly

spcw

As many as you like within the EU for personal user.

coylemj

There is in theory no limit as far as customs is concerned provided you can satisfy them that they are for your personal consumption.

However as you're coming from Gran Canaria you may be asking in the context of airport duty-free cigarettes in which case your main limiting factor will be how many cartons the airline will allow you to carry on to the plane and/or how many cartons they will allow you to buy in duty-free.

GodivaLPP

Canary Islands are outside the EU though....

D1stant

GodivaLPP wrote: »

Canary Islands are outside the EU though....

They are in e Shpain No?

GodivaLPP

D1stant wrote: »

They are in e Shpain No?

yes they arepart of Spain, but NOT part of the EU.
Customs pay attention to flights from the Canary Islands

Todd Gack

GodivaLPP wrote: »

yes they arepart of Spain, but NOT part of the EU.
Customs pay attention to flights from the Canary Islands

The Canaries are in the EU but not the EU VAT area so they don't follow the tax harmonisation rules.

ScouseMouse

The Canaries are a duty free destination, so they are classed differently from the EU area.

IF STOPPED, Customs will allow you to bring home 200 per adult. You may get away with another 200 but that is at their discretion.

I came back from Tenerife yesterday and someone on my flight had 1400 of an irish brand they bought on the way out. There was two of them buying, and the duty free shop in Dublin will sell 1000 per adult boarding card.

They were not stopped and away they went. (I think that was illegal and am not suggesting you do it)

When I walked through customs at about 1am yesterday, I saw two female officers who didnt look to bothered about anything.

coylemj

superscouse wrote: »

The Canaries are a duty free destination, so they are classed differently from the EU area.

IF STOPPED, Customs will allow you to bring home 200 per adult. You may get away with another 200 but that is at their discretion.

I looked at the Revenue website (link below) and it looks like you are correct. I think when you come from outside the EU (and for the purposes of this discussion the Canaries are outside the EU), it doesn't matter whether you paid local duty or not, it's all viewed as duty-free so you can only bring in 200 cigarettes if you want to be waved through on an inspection.

The relevant section says as follows...

When travellers arrive in Ireland from a country outside of the EC they may be liable to pay Customs Duty, Excise Duty (where applicable) and VAT at the airport or seaport of arrival on goods they purchased there. However, travellers may bring in goods up to the limits outlined in Duty-Free Allowances without paying duty and VAT in this country.

Note that there is no consideration for whether you paid local taxes and duty in the country of purchase so you are liable to pay excise and VAT on all but the duty-free allowance which in the case of cigarettes is 200 per person.

http://www.revenue.ie/en/customs/leaflets/pn1878a.html

Nonoperational

Yep as far as I know you are allowed 200 duty free. If you bring more you are supposed to declare them and pay duty.

ScouseMouse

gpf101 wrote: »

Yep as far as I know you are allowed 200 duty free. If you bring more you are supposed to declare them and pay duty.

Note the word SUPPOSED to.

Me, personally, I saw someone, stopped last year with about 1400 carrolls in their suitcases - that was 7 cartons between two adults.

The cases were x-rayed and they were told to go on.

I personally think they know what they are looking for. There are so many cases coming in full of cigarettes and nothing else, thats what they are after.
(unless you get the wrong officer!)

coylemj

Sometimes the excise people target specific flights, especially from eastern Europe. It's happened that the first few people off the plane were pulled over, they texted their mates still in the baggage hall whereupon a pile of suitcases full of cigarettes was abandoned, still running around the carousel.

SarzoMcDarzo

Just wondering, is it illegal to pay someone to bring fags from within the EU? I mean someone you don't know who might not do it for free?

MagicSean

SarzoMcDarzo wrote: »

Just wondering, is it illegal to pay someone to bring fags from within the EU? I mean someone you don't know who might not do it for free?

You mean pay someone to help you avoid paying import taxes?

goz83

SarzoMcDarzo wrote: »

Just wondering, is it illegal to pay someone to bring fags from within the EU? I mean someone you don't know who might not do it for free?

I believe they call it smuggling. What's your best guess?