If you’re planning to bring goods into the UK from travels abroad or from purchasing on the Internet, there are some important customs laws that you should be aware of. Here’s a handy guide to the regulations.

Buying goods abroad

Entering the UK from the European Union (EU): if you buy any goods on which tax was paid in another EU member country, you don’t have to pay any more tax in the UK. However, goods such as alcohol and tobacco must be for personal use only – i.e. for consumption by you or to be given as gifts. It is illegal to sell or take payment for these goods as they will then be considered to have been brought into the country for commercial purposes, and you could face up to seven years in prison if you are caught.

If a customs officer has reason to believe that you are bringing alcohol or tobacco into the UK for resale, you will be interviewed and expected to provide an explanation, and your goods may be seized (including the vehicle in which they are being transported) if they conclude that the goods are for commercial purposes. There are restrictions on how much tobacco you can bring into the UK from some of the new EU member countries who joined in 2004 without paying UK duty.

Entering the UK from non-EU countries: if you arrive in the UK with goods purchased in non-EU countries, there are limits to how much you’re allowed to bring into the country without having to pay UK duty. These are:

• 200 cigarettes or 250 grams of tobacco or 100 cigarillos or 50 cigars

• 60 cubic centilitres of perfume

• 250 cubic centilitres of eau de toilette

• 2 litres of still table wine

• 1 litre of spirits or strong liqueurs over 22% alcohol volume or 2 litres of fortified wine (e.g. sherry or port), sparkling wine or other liqueurs

• £145 worth of any other goods, including souvenirs and presents

There are also restrictions on how you bring the goods into the country. These are:

• You must travel with the goods.

• You must not sell the goods – they must be for personal use only.

• You must be over 17 to have the tobacco and alcohol allowances.

• If you go over the £145 limit for other goods, you’ll have to pay the duty for the whole value of the goods, not just the value over £145.

• You can only use your own personal allowance, i.e. you can’t share allowances in order to bring back higher value goods. If you do, you’ll have to pay duty on the total value of the goods.

If you have more than the allowance, you must declare your goods, otherwise you may face prosecution. Here’s how to declare goods at UK ports and airports:

Use the red channel if you have goods to declare or if you have commercial goods, or if you have more than the permitted personal allowance of tobacco from EU countries with tobacco restrictions.

Use the green channel if you’re entering from a non-EU country and don’t have any goods to declare.

Use the blue channel if you’re entering from an EU country and don’t have any tobacco that’s over the tobacco limit for that country.

Buying on the Internet

You’ll need to pay customs and VAT on goods purchased on the Internet if they are above a certain value. If the amount of duty is £7 and over, you’ll need to pay customs duty. If the value of the goods is £18 or over, you’ll also need to pay VAT.

You won’t need to pay UK customs duty if the goods were purchased in an EU country, but you’ll need to pay the VAT on the goods in that country if applicable.

For imports from non-EU countries, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs publishes a table of commodity codes for goods and the duty and tax that’s payable on them, as the rates vary from item to item. This table is known as the Tariff, and it’s updated monthly.

The person posting the goods to the UK will have to complete a customs declaration stating what the goods are, their value and whether they’re a gift or commercial item. Any duty that needs to be paid will be handled by the Post Office on delivery.