Money Matters

Duty-free shops are returning to Great Britain’s ports, airports and international rail terminals when the UK drops out of the single market on 1st January.

All passengers will be allowed to carry in their luggage a limited amount of duty- and tax-free alcohol, tobacco and other goods without paying UK taxes.

Duty-free shopping is also returning on international planes and ferries, not only for drink bought to consume on board but also for items to take away.

Two different taxes apply to goods moving between countries. One is excise duty, which is charged only on alcohol and tobacco. The other is VAT, which is charged on most things, including alcohol and tobacco.

The changes put travellers to EU countries on the same footing as those going anywhere else – as they were before duty- and tax-free sales within the EU were abolished in summer 1999.

After that, you could bring in unlimited amounts of alcohol, tobacco and other goods from the EU without being liable to additional UK tax, because you had paid any taxes levied where you bought them. Crucially, your purchases had to be intended only for your own personal use or to give as presents. So while there were no absolute limits, there were indicative levels of what was acceptable. The new limits are lower than that.

People arriving from non-eu countries were still allowed to bring in duty-frees and are now allowed a larger quantity of duty-free alcohol, though tobacco rations stay the same.