shorthauldad

Do you mean buying, say, booze and cigarettes at FRA airport before flying eg FRA-LHR-xxx; or buying goods in a normal shop in FRA city before flying, and trying to claim the VAT back?

sts603

The former. Buying goods in the EU when flying to LHR and then flying onwards (or offering sufficient documentation substantiating an onward flight) outside of the EU.

raikje

Are you sure? You certainly don't clear Customs at your first arrival point in the UK when connecting domestically (you clear at your final destination, hence the proliferation of extra baggage belts and red phones on walls), so I don't know why you would do so to a different EU country.

Calchas

I think Skipcool3 assumed that AyeCaramba was going landside at AMS.

If not, you are right raikje, customs are "done" at the final airport, or indeed, if ending on a BA domestic, sometimes not at all!

(In reality of course a customs officer may inspect you and your goods at any time during your domestic transit and even shortly thereafter.)

The Norwegian countries do have some sort of customs union with a collect-and-redrop-at-entry nonsense though.

Skipcool3

The intra EU Customs thing is a mess. As an individual you can clear Customs at your first point of Entry to the EU. What happens with your baggage is an after thought.....

NWIFlyer

From many trips on KL connecting in AMS to the UK regions, I always understood it that you and your hand baggage cleared customs at the first Point of Entry into the EU, whereas your hold luggage cleared at your destination (ie when you actually picked it up).

Whilst I haven't flown with KL since 2009, and therefore this might have changed, in latter years the Dutch customs set up an inspection station before security at the D06 bus gates in AMS where all the NWI flights left from.

Calchas

I don't think there is a "clearing" of customs as a single event.

The problem is that custom policy and application will differ depending on whether you are travelling domestically, travelling between EU states, entering the EU from outside it, travelling within the Schengen zone but exiting/entering the EU, travelling to/from EU territories who have opted out of the customs union (JER), travelling wholly within one state of which only part is in the EU customs zone, entering or exiting the UK ...

So it is best to declare things, if you have any, at the end of your travels. Obviously if you are questioned by an officer on the way, be honest about what's going on.

Skipcool3

From HMRC

You must tell customs about (‘declare’) any other goods when you arrive at the UK border, as well as anything that’s banned or restricted in the UK. If you owe any duty or tax, you’ll usually have to pay it immediately.

Calchas

Unfortunately if transiting at LHR there is not an obvious way to do this!

The document was probably written by someone who had never taken an int->dom connection.

NWIFlyer

I would also add, particularly if you're importing something very expensive, that some research into the correct harmonised commodity code could be highly advantageous - there are many duty bands for import from many countries which are 0% ... and equally some up at low single or double digit percentages, which could make an enormous difference to the bill!

Getting money back once you've declared under a wrong code is a herculean task (I know, having recently been part of trying to do it with HMRC when a courier ignored our instructions and declared under a non-zero percentage code). Best to get it right up-front ...

Calchas

In any case, customs are not interested in a bottle of whiskey possibly bought in LAX or maybe bought in AMS.

Skipcool3

Not interested at all.
I am just aware that it is not straight forward.
My own experience when buying a swiss watch as a gift some years ago was to buy it when flying on a Domestic as the store in the terminal had to pay the tax.... Where as if I had bought it on a flight to (say) Jersey I would have to pay!
I know from my local Newspaper that covers court cases at the local Crown Court, that many transit passengers using Gatwick get sent down for Drug smuggling...

NWIFlyer

Indeed not - they're primarily interested in big-ticket items (which might attract a considerable amount of duty if mis-declared, hence why in a few cases doing research before import is advisable) and criminal activities such as illegal drugs (for which I don't actually believe there's any defined commodity codes!).

I remember, as a young child, coming back from a family holiday in Turkey with goods that were over the then 'other goods' limit. My parents, being inherently honest, went through the Red Channel and faithfully handed the list of items to the customs officer - which included amongst other things a Turkish Rug which by itself was under the value limt (although how on earth we packaged that up and got it back in one piece I still have no idea) and a man mountain of Turkish Delight bought as presents.

The rather amused officer checked the receipt for the rug to verify its value, smiled and told them not to worry about the Turkish Delight, but to enjoy eating it ...

SilverSkier

I encountered a "when to declare goods" problem on a trip returning from overseas and transiting Heathrow on my way to Manchester. I intended to bring home an expensive item that would require the payment of VAT and duty. I checked with HMRC before I started my journey home to ascertain when I would complete the Customs formalities and was told that if the item was in my hand luggage I would have to declare it at Heathrow, but if it was in my hold luggage, which would be checked straight through to Manchester, I would clear it through Customs at Manchester.
This left me with a problem - my connection at Heathrow was too short to allow time to contact Customs via the red phone and sort out the necessary paperwork and payments without risking missing my connecting flight - but the value of the item was such that there was no way it was going in my checked luggage. I ended up sending the item direct to my home by Fedex before I started my homeward journey - otherwise I would have risked either losing the item if it was in my checked luggage, or missing my Manchester flight if it was in my hand luggage.
I now factor in the cost of FedEx shipping whenever I'm thinking of busting my customs limit on a trip that involves connecting flights - it saves a lot of grief!

sts603

What is the customs limit?

And by sending via FedEx wouldn't you have to pay duty on it that way?