We're going to Italy next month and we're in a co-op group that makes wine. I'd assumed that the 18 litres limit on wine imported to the UK would apply; a shame as we have a few hundred litres in our cellar there. Gov.uk says:
How much you can bring depends on the type of alcohol. You can bring in:
beer - 42 litres
wine (not sparkling) - 18 litres
You can also bring in either:
spirits and other liquors over 22% alcohol - 4 litres
fortified wine (for example port, sherry), sparkling wine and alcoholic drinks up to 22% alcohol - 9 litres
My wife pointed out to me that the same page also says:
You do not need to pay any tax or duties on personal goods you bring into Great Britain as long as they are within your personal allowances.
If the goods are over your allowances you will need to:
declare then
pay any customs duty due
...
pay any import VAT due
When you declare your goods you need to declare each item you bought. When you declare your items, you may not need to pay customs duty on items where all the following are true:
they were grown or made in the EU using only EU ingredients or materials
you bought them in the EU
you are bringing them in from an EU country
If these are true, you can claim a zero rate of customs duty for each item. You must:
have evidence these are true for each item you claim these rates for
be able to show this evidence if asked by a Border Force officer
If the total value of all the items you declare is less than £1,000 the evidence for each item can be:
a label or packaging showing it was grown or made in the EU
evidence it was hand-made or grown in the EU (for example, a document or written note from the person or business you bought it from)
This seems to say only VAT would be due (no problem as the wine costs me about 50 cents a litre.). The same is true though surely of commercially made wines and spirits where it's the duty that's a killer rather than VAT.
How much you can bring depends on the type of alcohol. You can bring in:
beer - 42 litres
wine (not sparkling) - 18 litres
You can also bring in either:
spirits and other liquors over 22% alcohol - 4 litres
fortified wine (for example port, sherry), sparkling wine and alcoholic drinks up to 22% alcohol - 9 litres
My wife pointed out to me that the same page also says:
You do not need to pay any tax or duties on personal goods you bring into Great Britain as long as they are within your personal allowances.
If the goods are over your allowances you will need to:
declare then
pay any customs duty due
...
pay any import VAT due
When you declare your goods you need to declare each item you bought. When you declare your items, you may not need to pay customs duty on items where all the following are true:
they were grown or made in the EU using only EU ingredients or materials
you bought them in the EU
you are bringing them in from an EU country
If these are true, you can claim a zero rate of customs duty for each item. You must:
have evidence these are true for each item you claim these rates for
be able to show this evidence if asked by a Border Force officer
If the total value of all the items you declare is less than £1,000 the evidence for each item can be:
a label or packaging showing it was grown or made in the EU
evidence it was hand-made or grown in the EU (for example, a document or written note from the person or business you bought it from)
This seems to say only VAT would be due (no problem as the wine costs me about 50 cents a litre.). The same is true though surely of commercially made wines and spirits where it's the duty that's a killer rather than VAT.
