Simplified rates for bringing personal goods into the UK
Find out about the simplified rates of customs and excise duty used when you declare your personal goods online.
Overview
If you’re bringing personal goods into the UK for your own use, or to be given as a gift and you’re transporting the goods yourself, you can use the online service to:
- check your personal allowances
- make a declaration
- pay any tax or duty due
The online service will calculate the duties owed by using simplified rates of customs and excise duty. This is a quick and easy way to make your declaration, and by using the online service, you can pay any tax or duty due before you arrive in the UK. The rates we use to calculate the duties owed will depend on the type of goods and total value of the goods you’re declaring.
By using the online service to declare your goods, you’re choosing not to use the customs tariff rates and main Alcohol Duty and Tobacco Products Duty rates to calculate the amount of customs and excise duty you owe.
If you think that using the online service does not give you the best overall outcome for all the goods you’re declaring, then you can make an oral declaration to Border Force on arrival in the UK. If you choose to make an oral declaration using the customs tariff rates and main alcohol and tobacco duty rates, they will apply to all the goods you’re declaring.
When you enter the value of your goods in a foreign currency, the online service calculates the tax and duty owed using HMRC’s exchange rates for customs and VAT. We use the rates that apply at the time you make your declaration.
Import VAT
If you’re making an online or oral declaration, you may have to pay import VAT. Import VAT is calculated on the total value of the goods you’re declaring plus any customs and excise duty due and is charged at the current UK VAT rate.
Goods of EU origin
If you’re travelling from EU countries to Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales), you may not need to pay any customs duty on goods you’re declaring if those goods have been made or produced in the EU. Find more information on bringing personal goods into the UK.
Simplified rates tables
The following tables show the simplified rates used to calculate the excise duty and customs duty owed on the different types of goods you can declare. If your goods are of EU origin and you meet the conditions for the preferential rate of customs duty, the rate of customs duty will be 0%.
Alcohol
| Description | Simplified rate of excise duty | Simplified rate of customs duty |
|---|---|---|
| Beer | £0.88 per litre | £0 |
| Still wine | £3.28 per litre | £0.11 per litre |
| Sparkling wine | £3.28 per litre | £0.26 per litre |
| Cider | £0.44 per litre | £0 |
| Sparkling cider of an alcoholic strength not exceeding 5.5% alcohol by volume | £0.44 per litre | £0.064 per litre |
| Sparkling cider of an alcoholic strength exceeding 5.5% but less than 8.5% alcohol by volume | £1.73 per litre | £0.16 per litre |
| Other fermented products | £3.28 per litre | £0.064 per litre |
| Spirits | £11.88 per litre | £0 |
Tobacco
| Description | Simplified rate of excise duty | Simplified rate of customs duty (as a percentage of the total value of the item) |
|---|---|---|
| Cigarettes | £446.67 per 1000 cigarettes | 50% |
| Hand rolling tobacco | £476.83 per kilogram | 70% |
| Other smoking tobacco and chewing tobacco | £183.49 per kilogram | 70% |
| Cigars | £417.33 per kilogram | 25% |
| Cigarillos | £417.33 per kilogram | 25% |
| Tobacco for heating | £103.17 per 1000 sticks | 16% |
Alcohol and tobacco upper thresholds
If you go over your personal allowances when bringing personal goods into the UK, you must make a declaration and pay any tax and duty due.
When making a declaration, there are limits to the amount of alcohol and tobacco you can declare using the online service. These limits are known as the ‘upper thresholds’.
If you go over these upper thresholds, you will need to declare all your goods to Border Force when you arrive in the UK.
The following table shows the maximum amounts of alcohol and tobacco you can declare using the online service, when you go over your personal allowances.
| Alcoholic beverages and alcohol | Upper threshold |
|---|---|
| Beer | 110 litres |
| Still wine | 90 litres |
| Sparkling wine | 60 litres |
| Cider | 20 litres |
| Sparkling cider of an alcoholic strength not exceeding 5.5% alcohol by volume | 20 litres |
| Sparkling cider of an alcoholic strength exceeding 5.5% but less than 8.5% alcohol by volume | 20 litres |
| Other fermented products | 20 litres |
| Spirits | 10 litres |
| Tobacco products | Upper threshold |
|---|---|
| Cigarettes | 800 cigarettes |
| Hand rolling tobacco | 1 kilogram |
| Other smoking tobacco and chewing tobacco | 1 kilogram |
| Cigars | 200 cigars |
| Cigarillos | 400 cigarillos |
| Tobacco for heating | 800 sticks |
A cigarillo is a cigar weighing no more than 3 grams each.
Other goods
If you’re bringing in other goods (non-excise goods) with a total value of over £630, the online service uses the simplified rates shown in the table to calculate the duty due.
If the total value of the other goods declared is £630 or less, the online service uses a 2.5% flat rate to calculate the customs duty on:
- clothing
- televisions
- carpets
- fabrics
- table and kitchenware
- glassware
- footwear
However, the online service uses the simplified rate for goods in the remaining categories, which have a duty rate lower than 2.5%.
The simplified rates used to calculate customs duty on other goods are as follows:
| Description | Simplified rate of customs duty |
|---|---|
| Antiques and works of art | 0% |
| Jewellery | 2% |
| Perfume and cosmetics | 0% |
| Televisions | 14% |
| Watches and clocks | 2% |
| Carpets | 8% |
| Fabrics (including embroidery, textiles, tapestry and knitted) | 8% |
| Clothing — adult | 12% |
| Clothing — children | 12% |
| Footwear | 16% |
| Furniture | 0% |
| Glassware | 10% |
| Computers, tablets, mobile phones and record players | 0% |
| Books or publications, disability equipment, protective helmets | 0% |
| Mobility aids, smoking cessation products, sanitary products, children’s car seats | 0% |
| Tableware and kitchenware | 8% |
| All other goods | 2% |
If your goods do not fall into any of the categories listed, then select the ‘all other goods’ option on the online service.
Updates to this page
Published 7 May 2021Last updated 30 October 2024 + show all updates
-
The tobacco simplified rates of excise duty have been updated for Autumn Budget 2024.
-
The tobacco simplified rates of excise duty have been updated for Autumn Statement 2023.
-
The simplified rates of excise duty for alcohol have been updated for 1 August 2023. A link has also been added to the new Alcohol Duty rates. References to 'made-wine' have been changed to 'other fermented products'.
-
The tobacco simplified rates of excise duty have been updated for Spring Budget 2023.
-
Updated Tobacco simplified rates of excise duty.
-
Information about if you go over the upper thresholds for alcohol and tobacco has been added.
-
First published.