Bringing back cigarettes from holidays

The General

How much can you legally bring back per person?

Karoma

I was told 200 by a tour operator.. (This was returning from non-EU country..after purchasing...more than 200)

check? :
http://www.revenue.ie/faqs/faq_cat5.htm

"If you exceed these quantities you may have to show that the goods are for your personal use."

"Well, if you insist Garda.."

The General

Karoma wrote:

I was told 200 by a tour operator..

http://www.revenue.ie/faqs/faq_cat5.htm

Its definately more than 200, thats only one carton

quote from that site

If your purchases are equivalent to or less than the quantities shown in the table they will, generally speaking, be regarded as for personal use. If you exceed these quantities you may have to show that the goods are for your personal use.

How do you prove they are for personal use?

Karoma

As above: You smoke them in front of an officer...and get fined for smoking in an airport instead!
Also,above was stated with some cynicism: perhaps she's right if it's non-EU or something... *shrug* she had me worried... customs were not a problem in the end .. but that's another jok..story.

funk-you

as long as you dont have a ridiculous amount on you like a suitcase full or something you wont have a problem, ive brought 7 cartons back through and had my bag searched and all that was said was "Jaysus you should give those things up buddy". dont take the piss and you'll be ok. as long as they dont think you'll be selling them its cool.

The General

funk-you wrote:

as long as you dont have a ridiculous amount on you like a suitcase full or something you wont have a problem, ive brought 7 cartons back through and had my bag searched and all that was said was "Jaysus you should give those things up buddy". dont take the piss and you'll be ok. as long as they dont think you'll be selling them its cool.

My mum is going away in 2 weeks shes about 50, and shes gonna try bring me back 10 cartons in her suitcase and maybe 2 cartons in her carry on luggage.....will she get away with this? They will be all the same brand and with reciepts.

funk-you

if she's going away with other people get her to put a couple of cartons into their bags then there'll be no prob. 12 cartons is a lot but it really depends on the person that is searching your bag and their mood but at the same time they might not even search her bag. why do you want to bring back 2400 smokes? why not just settle for a few cartons rather than your ma worrying about getting stung with the duty on the ones that they deem not for personal use? saying that though i'd probably try it. i'd say you'll get away with it.

RapierX

800 per person, if your coming from a country where you get 200 for 16 euro or whatever you may as well try bring back 1200 or so.

Cabaal

Basically the more you bring back the more you smoke and the quicker you end your life

Sleepy

Very useful post Cabaal. :rolleyes:

Within the EU, you can bring as many cigarettes as you like back, provided that they're for personal use. If you're bringing a large number back (over 10 cartons or so), it's advisable to open the cartons and a box or two in each carton (demonstrates that they're not intended for resale).

Travelling outside the EU, you're limited to 200 per person, though customs will rarely bother you if you have 3/4 cartons as it's obviously just for personal use rather than smuggling them in for sales purposes.

Santa Claus

Key is that you're only allowed bring back 200 per person duty free or 800 duty paid BUT any more than 800 and they have to be for personal use.

If your ma is bringing back 2400 smokes then she might want to yellow her fingers/teeth to make it look like they're for her personal use

iregk

during the summer our tour rep told us that the 800 limit is for tax free shopping, i.e. you buy them in the airport... but if you buy in one country and bring back to ireland then you can bring back 2000, that only applies inside the EU. Outside I think the limit is 200 or something.

ferdi

i brought back 8 cartons from thailand..,..WOOHAA111111!

The General

The General wrote:

My mum is going away in 2 weeks shes about 50, and shes gonna try bring me back 10 cartons in her suitcase and maybe 2 cartons in her carry on luggage.....will she get away with this? They will be all the same brand and with reciepts.

She will be buying them on holidays not in the airport(duty free) so does that mean she can bring back 2000

Sleepy

If it's an EU country, tax and duty are paid so she can bring ya back the 2000.

The General

Sleepy wrote:

If it's an EU country, tax and duty are paid so she can bring ya back the 2000.

canaries? are they in the EU

rick_fantastic

u can bring mack as many cigarettes as u can fit in ur luggage dude. i was in canaries in jan and i brought back 5000 smokes. its not a big deal customs wont even look at ur ma

Padraig Mor

The General wrote:

canaries? are they in the EU

Yip, but they're a 'special case'. You can only legally bring back 200. I've also occasionally heard of customs paying particular attention to flights from the Canaries.

Santa Claus

I could never understand the Canaries as they're part of the EU (being owned by Spain) but yet they qualify for duty free.
Max she can bring back is 200 duty free and even then if she buys the rest in a supermarket, technically she still has to prove they're for personal use !

Eurorunner

If you did exceed whatever limits are in place, are there any other repercussions aside from confiscation?

Ditto with replica clothing etc.?

BrianD

The General wrote:

canaries? are they in the EU

Yes and no! They are in the EU but are a duty free area so you can only bring back 200 cigarettes that have been purchased on the islands.

Personally duty free allowances for cigarettes should have been dropped years ago. All it does is subsidise cigarette sales and smoking.