Duty free and customs when returning from Ex-EU trip
Feb 11, 2015, 7:58 am
#46
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What some people don't realise is that if there are two of you travelling together, you can't add your £390 allowances together to cover the cost of a single item costing over £390 - and if you bring in a single item worth over £390 you pay the VAT and duty on the total value, not just the amount over the £390 allowance. That really hurts!
Feb 11, 2015, 8:06 am
#47
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Believe it or not, HMRC does from time to time send someone to BRR to check. However there is of course "intelligence based enforcement", as Mrs. Rooney discovered to her cost.
Feb 11, 2015, 8:21 am
#48
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I have seen Customs Officers at NCL searching baggage and questioning passengers that had arrived on a Domestic flight but had originated from somewhere in the Caribbean.
Feb 11, 2015, 8:30 am
#49
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I flew from LHR to MUC with BA and an old CX bag tag attracted the attention of an eagle-eyed customs officer. Asked where I'd flown from - answer LON. "Only from LON? Where did ths bag start its journey?" He was apparently satisfied with my answers, no bag search necessary...
Feb 11, 2015, 8:33 am
#50
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... and, of course, it's fairly easy to pick out people who've arrived from outside the EU with hold baggage because their tags will be a different colour to intra-EU passengers.
That probably means relying on specific intelligence to pick up those travelling HBO, which - given the suitcase volume available - most likely means bringing an expensive watch or piece of jewellery in rather than something that has considerable value by virtue of its size. Not always a guarantee - I was stopped with HBO coming back from SIN once, but whereas everyone else with checked luggage was having their cases emptied, I was delayed by less than 30 seconds having answered a handful of questions - the most ludicrous of which, holding my passport page open on a page with numerous SIN stamps, was "Have you been to Singapore before?".
That probably means relying on specific intelligence to pick up those travelling HBO, which - given the suitcase volume available - most likely means bringing an expensive watch or piece of jewellery in rather than something that has considerable value by virtue of its size. Not always a guarantee - I was stopped with HBO coming back from SIN once, but whereas everyone else with checked luggage was having their cases emptied, I was delayed by less than 30 seconds having answered a handful of questions - the most ludicrous of which, holding my passport page open on a page with numerous SIN stamps, was "Have you been to Singapore before?".
Feb 11, 2015, 8:40 am
#51
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All very interesting. Thanks. Will be sure to be more conscious about making any new items not appear as such. Guess I shouldn't be surprised that the UK actually tries to enforce limits on importing personal goods for personal consumption given every other attempt to steal my money 
Feb 11, 2015, 8:47 am
#52
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With the current weakness of the Euro, the answer is probably to shop in Europe at the moment! No import limits then (other than to prove for personal use) ...
Feb 11, 2015, 8:51 am
#53
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Which brings me back to my question from before - if buying in the EU and flying to LHR, can you produce a BP for LHR-ex-EU destination and get the tax free price? What about just an itinerary showing travel onwards from LHR?
Feb 11, 2015, 8:54 am
#54
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If you bought the item at the European airport, yes.
If not, no.
If in doubt, ask.
Can you deceive HMRC about the origin of the goods?
That's your gamble.
Feb 11, 2015, 8:54 am
#55
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"I plan on leaving the EU some time soon, honest"
Feb 11, 2015, 8:57 am
#56
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Its not about deceiving HMRC regarding the origin of the goods. Its about deceiving the duty free store on the continent to thinking that you are traveling beyond LHR and out of the EU so they don't charge tax. Its one thing to have to book a refundable ticket out of LHR and print off a BP. Its another to just be able to show a dummy itinerary.
Feb 11, 2015, 9:10 am
#57
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If you really want to do this, and know you won't be passing through UK customs, I suppose you could always buy a fully refundable ticket from MUC to somewhere outside the EU, buy the goods, get the ticket refunded then fly on your original itinerary. Even then there's a risk - your departing boarding pass is scanned to verify you're eligible for tax/duty free goods, so when it comes to reconcile the claim (the retailers have to document why nothing was charged) you will show as not having travelled - making your purchase 'illegal' and making you fully traceable and liable for tax and duty.
Strikes me that comes under the 'too much aggravation, not worth the risk' categories.
Feb 11, 2015, 9:10 am
#58
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Ex-MAN they are happy to do it, if you have an onwards BP.
I've shown a connecting BP when buying gin at MAN before, and the connecting flight details were what appeared on the receipt in the sealed bag. But that was a Swiss domestic connection from ZRH, so the MAN-ZRH leg would have been eligible for duty free in its own right. Interestingly they wanted to see the connecting BP when I asked them for the sealed bag - would I still have been able to buy duty free if I was connecting in ZRH back to an EU destination?
Via the EU
If you're flying via an EU airport to a country outside the EU (eg Manchester to Johannesburg via Amsterdam), and you are in possession of a boarding card for your final destination, you can still buy goods at both duty and tax free prices at Manchester Airport.
If you're flying via an EU airport to a country outside the EU (eg Manchester to Johannesburg via Amsterdam), and you are in possession of a boarding card for your final destination, you can still buy goods at both duty and tax free prices at Manchester Airport.
Feb 11, 2015, 9:31 am
#60
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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!
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!
Seems a silly rule to have when you could just put it in your checked luggage as soon as you collect it.