Suggestions for shipping wine home from Languedoc to Dublin

fortyplus

Hello
we are returning to Languedoc unexpectedly at Easter and considering the possibility of shipping a few cases of wine home. We know the winemaker from previous visits and from bringing a few bottles home, we know it travels well! Googling does not show up any obvious options, but any suggestions here? Location is close to Beziers, home is Dublin.
All suggestions welcome.

enda1

My suggestion would be to pay for a couple of extra check-in bags.
Shipping will mean you'll have to pay import excise duty (and vat on that) on top of the shipping cost of course.

If travelling by aerlingus, then the following info should help: http://www.aerlingus.com/travelinformation/baggageinformation/checkedbaggage/#checkedbaggagefeestable

be sure to know the weight of the case plus protective packaging before considering adding baggage cost to the flight.

the beer revolu

What you are considering doing is called smuggling and is illegal.
You can bring alcohol, no problem, from within the EU but you must accompany it.

bennyob

the beer revolu wrote: »

What you are considering doing is called smuggling and is illegal.
You can bring alcohol, no problem, from within the EU but you must accompany it.

Its not if you pay the necessary duties and excise.

the beer revolu

bennyob wrote: »

Its not if you pay the necessary duties and excise.

As far as I know,you need a licence to import alcohol.

ednwireland

drive

BeerNut

the beer revolu wrote: »

As far as I know,you need a licence to import alcohol.

As far as I know you don't. If you're planning to sell it on, putting it in a bonded warehouse, that sort of thing, then other rules apply. But shipping it to yourself is fine as long as you have the paperwork squared with Irish Revenue before the bottles leave France.

the beer revolu

BeerNut wrote: »

But shipping it to yourself is fine as long as you have the paperwork squared with Irish Revenue before the bottles leave France.

Now, that is the big caveat.

Lucena

A few years back, I sent a couple of hundred bottles to Ireland from France for a friend's wedding. The wine seller told me that if the person sending the order was the same person receiving it, no taxes or duty would need to be paid, so the seller just had to pretend that it was the friend who placed the order, not me. The seller took care of sending it, and it arrived sans problèmes.

What the actual legalities of it are, I have no idea!

the beer revolu

Lucena wrote: »

A few years back, I sent a couple of hundred bottles to Ireland from France for a friend's wedding. The wine seller told me that if the person sending the order was the same person receiving it, no taxes or duty would need to be paid, so the seller just had to pretend that it was the friend who placed the order, not me. The seller took care of sending it, and it arrived sans problèmes.

What the actual legalities of it are, I have no idea!

The vendor was bullsh1tting.
If he/she told or knew the actual truth they may have lost a sale.

Lucena

the beer revolu wrote: »

The vendor was bullsh1tting.
If he/she told or knew the actual truth they may have lost a sale.

They did a good job bullshιtting, cos I bought the wine and the friend received it. Maybe he was chancing his arm though, and we could've got stung (fines, seizure of goods...).

I vaguely remember going back to try to send another lot of wine to Ireland a year later and the seller being rather evasive: "Ah, that'd be a bit complicated, now". Maybe he realised he'd taken a big risk?

the beer revolu

Lucena wrote: »

They did a good job bullshιtting, cos I bought the wine and the friend received it. Maybe he was chancing his arm though, and we could've got stung (fines, seizure of goods...).

Within Europe, there is, it seems, a good chance of the goods getting through without a problem but the fact remains that it is, in fact, smuggling and one should be prepared for the consequences if caught.

drohanzy

Hi I was wondering would you not consider driving and bringing the wine home with you? It's something you should consider if it would work out financially better for you depending on how much wine you drink. You are allowed 90 litres of wine for personal use which is 120 bottles and are relieved of VAT and Duty if you accompany them. What you should do is add up what the wine would cost you in France, the cost of the ferry with a small van and other journey costs like fuel, accommodation but if you had another willing driver with you to split the driving would cut out having to stop over. All information is on revenue.ie

PN 1879 - Acquisition of Excisable Products (Duty Paid In Another Member State) for Personal Use

Information for Travellers Arriving in Ireland from Member States of the European Union

It's worth having a look into I think!

enda1

drohanzy wrote: »

Hi I was wondering would you not consider driving and bringing the wine home with you? It's something you should consider if it would work out financially better for you depending on how much wine you drink. You are allowed 90 litres of wine for personal use which is 120 bottles and are relieved of VAT and Duty if you accompany them. What you should do is add up what the wine would cost you in France, the cost of the ferry with a small van and other journey costs like fuel, accommodation but if you had another willing driver with you to split the driving would cut out having to stop over. All information is on revenue.ie

PN 1879 - Acquisition of Excisable Products (Duty Paid In Another Member State) for Personal Use

Information for Travellers Arriving in Ireland from Member States of the European Union

It's worth having a look into I think!

Where did you get that figure? As far as I know there is no upper figure. You can bring in as many as you want. A large number could lead to issues as it may appear you are a commercial customer but something such as proof of your upcoming wedding for example could help to assure that you're legitimate.

drohanzy

enda1 wrote: »

Where did you get that figure? As far as I know there is no upper figure. You can bring in as many as you want. A large number could lead to issues as it may appear you are a commercial customer but something such as proof of your upcoming wedding for example could help to assure that you're legitimate.

Yes you can bring in more but if you can't prove it's for a wedding you will be charged excise on it or as far as I know if you had 2 adults in the van you would be entitled to bring in 90 litres each without any charges!

Information for Travellers Arriving in Ireland from Member States of the European Union

This is where I got the figure but had been told it personally by someone! You can always take a chance try and bring more and try get away with it but if you get caught it will cost you.

enda1

drohanzy wrote: »

Yes you can bring in more but if you can't prove it's for a wedding you will be charged excise on it or as far as I know if you had 2 adults in the van you would be entitled to bring in 90 litres each without any charges!

Information for Travellers Arriving in Ireland from Member States of the European Union

This is where I got the figure but had been told it personally by someone! You can always take a chance try and bring more and try get away with it but if you get caught it will cost you.

"Where purchases of the specific products listed below are equivalent to, or less than, the quantities shown in the table they will, generally speaking, be regarded as for personal use."

As it says it's a guideline for when you may be investigated. It should be reasonably easy to show it's fr personal use though such as you've recently bought a wine fridge or two and are stocking them, you've put on an extension with wine storage are, you're getting married/have a party of some sort.

There is no actual limit though, just a suggestion.

drohanzy

enda1 wrote: »

"Where purchases of the specific products listed below are equivalent to, or less than, the quantities shown in the table they will, generally speaking, be regarded as for personal use."

As it says it's a guideline for when you may be investigated. It should be reasonably easy to show it's fr personal use though such as you've recently bought a wine fridge or two and are stocking them, you've put on an extension with wine storage are, you're getting married/have a party of some sort.

There is no actual limit though, just a suggestion.

All the better if you can prove that you have got it for those reasons, the more you can bring the more you can save. My original post was just to give the idea that if you could drive and bring the wine back yourself it may work out cheaper in the long run especially if you consume a good amount of wine. But you have to make sure your evidence is good because if they even think your pulling the wool over there eye's customs will just charge you or take it off you!