Originally Posted by
Kettering Northants QC
You only circumstance I can see HMRC wanting to apply this rule (in the way inferred by dulciuswhateverious impies) is where a group of independent travelers conspire to illegally import excess duty free products by claiming to be travelling in a group. I.e. A,B C, D each put 4 litres of vodka in their cases - on going through Duty Free A gets stopped, B,C and D continue and are on their way. A claims he is carrying the Vodka for A, B, C and D.
For a family, it would be complete nonsense. My wife and I pack our cases together and mix stuff across both cases to avoid the risk of having no clothing if one case goes missing. We check in together and have the same travel plans - no issue.
People always seem to assume that what can go wrong, won't go wrong. Right up until they discover that what can go wrong, may indeed go wrong. On any given day how a Customs Officer chooses to deal with someone is pretty much an open book. It the CO got out of bed on the wrong side that day, they can and do sometimes choose to interpret their rules as they please. The phrase, 'transport them yourself' is NOT ambiguous. It means that you carry(transport) your personal allowance, yourself. That on any given day, the vast majority of COs choose to define it in one way vs. another, does not mean on any other given day they cannot choose to define it 'as read'. By taking it 'as read' you eliminate the possibility of it being a problem.
'You can't combine with other people' is the other specific term. Do you see anything that says that does not apply to a family member? I don't. Take it 'as read' avoids any possible hassle over 'who bought and owns this bottle?' CO says, 'Got separate receipts for the two bottles, one your receipt, one your spouse's receipt sir? No, so you bought both is that right sir? So they are both yours. You are only allowed one. what about these cigarettes sir? Does your spouse smoke this brand sir? And back to the whiskey, does your spouse drink whiskey sir? Is this or is it not for your spouse's personal use sir? It must be for your spouse's personal use, not your use sir if she is going to say it is her personal duty free allowance sir. So both bottles are for your use only sir.' If a CO decides to give you grief simply because s/he doesn't like the way you look, they will have no problem whatsoever in doing so when YOU have more than your allowance in YOUR suitcase. When you walk through that GREEN path, you are at their mercy.
But if someone can
provide a link that shows family members can combine their allowances, I will be more than happy to read it. Every single reference I can find says you cannot combine and nowhere can I find a reference that says a family member is an exception to not combining with another person. That Customs may be lax in how they interpet that doesn't mean they cannot interpret it 'as read' if they choose to do so. Or as the saying goes, 'past performance is no guarantee of future results.'