Bringing goods to the UK from the EU

If you are travelling to the UK from the European Union (EU), you can bring in an unlimited amount of most goods for your own use without paying tax or duty, but certain rules apply.

On this page:

Arrivals from EU Countries
Customs checks when coming from the EU
Declaring goods to customs
How much duty or tax do you pay?
Banned and restricted goods
Getting more help and advice
More useful links

Arrivals from EU countries

When arriving into the UK from an EU country you can bring in an unlimited amount of most goods.

For excise goods such as alcohol and tobacco, there are no restrictions unless you are buying tobacco products from Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania and Romania – see next section. However you must meet the conditions below:

You transport the goods yourself.
The goods are for your own use or as a gift. If the person you give the goods to pays you in any way (including reimbursing you for any expenses or payment in kind), then it's not a gift and the goods may be seized.
The goods are duty and tax paid in the EU country where they were acquired.

If you don't meet these conditions, the goods (and any vehicle that transported them) may be seized.

You can read more about Excise Duty in our guide ‘Customs Duty, Excise Duty and Import VAT: introduction'. You’ll find a link to this at the end of the page.

Bulgaria, Estonia Lithuania and Romania – tobacco limits

There are limits on the amount of cigarettes and some other tobacco products that you can bring in from certain EU countries, as shown in the table below:

Country	Tobacco limit
Estonia	200 cigarettes or 250g of smoking tobacco
Bulgaria, Lithuania, Romania	200 cigarettes

If you exceed the above limits and freely declare them you will be given the opportunity to pay the Excise Duty. If you fail to declare them or can’t pay the Excise Duty they will be seized.

Motor fuel

As well as the fuel in your vehicle's standard tank, you can bring in reserve fuel for that vehicle without paying any Excise Duty on it. The fuel must be in an appropriate container.

Check which countries are in the EU in our customs guide for travellers coming to the UK

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Customs checks when coming from the EU

If a customs officer from the UK Border Agency (UKBA) thinks you may be bringing in excise goods such as alcohol and tobacco from the EU for commercial use - perhaps to sell to other people or simply for reimbursement - they may ask you questions and make checks. You may be asked about:

the type and quantity of goods you’ve bought
why you bought them
how you paid for them
how often you travel
how much you normally smoke or drink

Although there are no limits on the amount of alcohol and tobacco you can bring in from most EU countries, customs officers are more likely to ask you questions if you have more than:

3,200 cigarettes
200 cigars
400 cigarillos
3kg of tobacco
110 litres of beer
90 litres of wine
10 litres of spirits
20 litres of fortified wine (for example port or sherry)

If HMRC is satisfied that the goods are for a commercial purpose it may seize them and any vehicle used to transport them, and may not return them to you. You can find out more in the guide ‘What to do if your goods are seized by customs’ under ‘More useful links’.

Find out more about bringing goods into the UK for commercial use

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Declaring goods to customs

You must declare to customs any goods from EU countries if:

you bring in more than the limit of tobacco products from Estonia, Bulgaria, Lithuania or Romania
you think they may be banned or restricted goods

To do this you should use the red channel or the red-point phone. The customs officer will tell you if any tax or duty is owed and how to pay.

Note that if you are bringing back goods for commercial purposes, the rules are different.

Find out more about going through customs when you enter the UK

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How much duty or tax do you pay?

You may have Excise Duty to pay - perhaps because you have exceeded the tobacco limits for Estonia, Bulgaria, Romania, or Lithuania.

Excise Duty rates

You can check the current tobacco duty rates on the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) website.

Check the current tobacco duty rates

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Banned and restricted goods

There are some goods, such as offensive weapons and illegal drugs that you can't bring into the UK no matter where you're travelling from. Other goods, like firearms, are restricted.

Some food and plant products may be restricted if they:

are not free from pests and diseases
are not for your own use
were not grown in the EU

Find out more about what goods are banned or restricted

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Getting more help and advice

If you need more information about bringing in goods to the UK from the EU, you can contact the VAT, Customs and Excise Helpline on Tel 0845 010 9000. Lines are open from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm, Monday to Friday except bank holidays.

More contact details for the VAT, Customs and Excise Helpline

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