Each EU country can decide on a maximum amount of tobacco and alcohol that you can bring into the country. There is a higher or lower limit depending on the EU country you are visiting. If an EU country applies the lower limits, it can either apply them only to land and sea travellers (Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia) or to all travellers (Estonia and Romania). The ‘statement on origin’ is formal wording from the person or business you bought the items from which confirms:

You may have to pay import VAT, customs duty and excise duty on tobacco you declare. Alcohol and tobacco allowances if you’re under 17 You may have to pay import VAT on the total value of the goods plus duty. You pay this at the current UK VAT rate. Declaring goods made or produced in the EU

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There are no personal allowances for tobacco or alcohol if you’re under 17. You can bring alcohol and tobacco to the UK for your own use but you must declare them before you arrive in the UK. Allowance for other goods If you go over your allowance you pay tax and duty on the total value of the goods, not just the value above the allowance. As and from 1st January 2021, these MILs no longer apply. Passengers travelling from GB to the EU are subject to rules for non-EU passengers. These include rules on tobacco, alcohol and cash amounts.

You could also prove that you know how the items were made in the EU by using documents or records which show the item meets the rules of origin. The ‘importer’s knowledge’ section of the proof of origin guide explains how you do this. This applies if you bring in (import) these items for either personal or commercial use. 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. 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) Up until 31 December 2020 anyone travelling to the EU could take unlimited amounts of duty and tax paid goods as long as they were for personal use. Minimum indicative levels (MILs) were used as a guide to establish whether the goods were actually for personal use. 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:This proof could be an invoice or document from the person or business you bought the items from which includes the: