Originally Posted by
Sleepy_Sentry
Later this month I'll be traveling from the USA to Europe. A family member in the US has asked that I buy a specific brand of cigarettes from duty free. These cigarettes are not available in Europe, so I would have to buy them at EWR and fly back with them later.
The EU allows me to import up to 800 cigarettes, but the US limit is only 200. I plan to buy 800 and save the receipt from the US.
Would I actually be importing anything since I bought the cigarettes in the US? Or would normal restrictions apply since duty free has no taxes applied?
You will be required to pay duty on them as they're not "Duty paid" cigarettes. Cigarettes bought within your country are duty paid already so no issues. The cigarettes bought at duty free stores are meant for export so no need to pay taxes. If you bring them back in, the government must extract their pound of flesh...