Category: UK

  • Alcohol and Tobacco duties and taxes at UK

    Tobacco Duty

    You pay different rates of Tobacco Duty on cigarettes, cigars and other tobacco products.

    Tobacco product Rate
    Cigarettes 16.5% of the retail price plus £4.16 on a packet of 20
    Cigars £2.59 on a 10g cigar
    Hand rolling tobacco £5.24 on a 25g packet
    Other smoking tobacco and chewing tobacco (for example pipe tobacco) £2.85 on a 25g packet

    Beer Duty

    How much Beer Duty you pay depends on the beer’s strength, or ‘alcohol by volume’ (ABV).

    Strength (ABV) Beer Duty rate per litre for each % of alcohol
    More than 1.2%, up to 2.8% 8.42 pence
    More than 2.8%, up to 7.5% 19.08 pence
    More than 7.5% 24.77 pence

    Example

    You buy a pint of 5.0% strength lager. The Beer Duty you pay is 19.08p x 5.0 = 95.40 pence per litre. This works out at just over 54 pence a pint (about 568ml or 0.568 litres).

    Cider Duty

    You pay Cider Duty on cider and perry. How much depends on the strength and whether it’s still or sparkling.

    Type of cider or perry Strength (ABV) Rate per litre
    Still More than 1.2%, up to 7.5% 40.38 pence
    Still More than 7.5% but less than 8.5% 61.04 pence
    Sparkling More than 1.2%, up to 5.5% 40.38 pence
    Sparkling More than 5.5% but less than 8.5% 279.46 pence

    Wine Duty

    How much Wine Duty you pay depends on the strength of the wine (or made-wine) and whether it’s still or sparkling.

    Type of wine or made-wine Strength (ABV) Rate per litre
    Still More than 1.2%, up to 4% 88.93 pence
    Still More than 4%, up to 5.5% 122.30 pence
    Still More than 5.5%, up to 15% 288.65 pence
    Still More than 15%, up to 22% 384.82 pence
    Sparkling More than 5.5% but less than 8.5% 279.46 pence
    Sparkling More than 8.5%, up to 15% 369.72 pence

    You pay duty on wine and made-wine of more than 22% ABV at the same rate as spirits.

    Spirit Duty

    You pay £28.74 of Spirit Duty per litre of pure alcohol.

    Example

    The Spirit Duty you pay on a 1 litre bottle of 40% ABV vodka is 40% of £28.74, or £11.50.

    For more details, visit https://www.gov.uk/tax-on-shopping/alcohol-tobacco

    Fuel Duty rates

    The rate you pay depends on the type of fuel.

    Type of fuel Rate
    Petrol, diesel, biodiesel and bioethanol 57.95 pence per litre
    Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) 31.61 pence per kg
    Natural gas used as fuel in vehicles, for example biogas 24.70 pence per kg
    ‘Fuel oil’ burned in a furnace or used for heating 10.70 pence per litre

    Gambling duty rates

    The rate and type of gambling duty depends on the type of gambling.

    Type of gambling Duty Rate
    Bingo Bingo Duty 10%
    Casino games Gaming Duty Between 15% and 50%, depending on how much money the casino makes
    Normal betting at a bookmaker’s General Betting Duty 15%
    Financial spread betting General Betting Duty 3%
    Other types of spread betting General Betting Duty 10%
    Pool betting (for example football pools) Pool Betting Duty 15%
    National Lottery tickets Lottery Duty 12%
    Fruit or quiz machines with a prize up to £10 that cost up to 20 pence to play Machine Games Duty 5%
    All other fruit or quiz machines Machine Games Duty 20%
    Online or telephone gambling Remote Gaming Duty 15%

    For more details, visit https://www.gov.uk/tax-on-shopping/alcohol-tobacco

    UK Custom official website: HM Revenue and Customs HMRC UK

    Imports and Exports duties in to UK

    If you need any help with importing, exporting goods into UK or outside the UK and customs reliefs questions, call or write HMRC

    HMRC customer care phone number: 0300 200 3700 (UK customs customer care number)

    Textphone: 0300 200 3719

    Opening times: Monday to Friday: 8am to 6pm (Closed weekends and bank holidays.)

    Postal address:

    HM Revenue and Customs – CITEX Written Enquiry Team
    Local Compliance S0000
    Newcastle NE98 1ZZ United Kingdom

    *Include your VAT registration number and the name and postal address of your business.

    For further information, visit here

  • Duty Free Allowance into UK from Non EU members state

    Travelers should be 18 years older to buy the following products without paying UK customs.

    The Non EU countries member can have the duty free allowance to bring alcohol / tobacco / cigarettes / cigarillos. If the allowance exceeds the limit, they need to pay the customs.

    Tobacco / Cigarettes / Cigarillos / Cigars allowance into UK from

    Non EU members state

    Non EU members can bring Cigarettes / Cigars / Cigarillos / Tobacco into UK without paying the duties and tax. If the allowance exceeds, you should pay the custom fees.

    Type of goods Amount
    Cigarettes 200
    Cigars 50
    Cigarillos 100
    Tobacco 250 g

    Alcohol / Liquor / Wine / Beer allowance into UK from Non EU members state

    Non EU members can bring alcohol / liquor / beer / wine / spirits into UK without paying the duties and tax. If the allowance exceeds, you should pay the custom fees.

    Type of goods Amount
    Beer 16 litres
    Wine (not sparkling) 4 litres
    Spirits and other liquors over 22% alcohol 1 litre
    Fortified wine (eg port, sherry), sparkling wine and alcoholic drinks up to 22% alcohol 2 litres

    Allowance for other goods in to UK

    You can bring in other goods worth up to £390 (or up to £270 if you arrive by private plane or boat). If the goods allowance exceeds the limit, you need to pay the customs of 2.5% for goods worth up to £630.

    VAT customer care UK

    If you have any queries on custom tax, you can call the VAT customer care

    Telephone: 0300 200 3700

    Textphone: 0300 200 3719

    Outside UK: +44 2920 501 261

    Opening times: Monday to Friday: 8am to 6pm (Closed weekends and bank holidays).

    To send mail, please write to the below address

    Address: HM Revenue and Customs – VAT Written Enquiries Team
    Alexander House
    21 Victoria Avenue, Southend-On-Sea, SS99 1BD, United Kingdom

    Cash allowance into UK from Non EU members state

    You can take cash of €10,000 (or the equivalent in another currency) between UK and any non-EU country.

    Cash includes:

    • notes and coins
    • bankers’ drafts
    • cheques of any kind (including travellers’ cheques)

    If you are having cash over €10,000, you should declare using the following for or you can fill at the airport or port.

    Cash declaration (for amounts of 10,000 Euros or more entering or leaving the European Union)

  • Duty Free Allowance into UK from EU members state

    Travelers should be 18 years older to buy the following products without paying UK customs.

    The following EU countries member can have the allowance to bring alcohol / tobacco / cigarettes / cigarillos

    The EU countries are:

    Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK.

    Tobacco / Cigarettes / Cigarillos / Cigars allowance into UK from an EU members state

    EU members can bring Cigarettes / Cigars / Cigarillos / Tobacco into UK without paying the duties and tax. 

    Type of goods Amount
    Cigarettes 800
    Cigars 200
    Cigarillos 400
    Tobacco 1kg

    Alcohol / Liquor / Wine / Beer allowance into UK from an EU members state

    EU members can bring alcohol / liquor / beer / wine / spirits into UK without paying the duties and tax. 

    Type of goods Amount
    Beer 110 litres
    Wine 90 litres
    Spirits 10 litres
    Fortified wine (eg sherry, port) 20 litres

     Cash allowance into UK from EU members state

    No need to declare for the cash you are taking inside UK for EU members state.