Gibraltar allowances

[Stevieboy]

Hi folks. We're thinking of heading to South of Spain in the summer and hoping to head to Gibraltar and into Staggies.

Question: what will Gib (and UK) customs allow me to bring from Gib back into Spain then back to Scotland? Is it 50 sticks per adult?

I've looked at a few websites and gotten a bit confused?!?

Cheers


Iphone....tap....etc...etc

[spirit_of_will]

Officially, I believe that even when imported via Spain the allowance when bought in GIB is only 50 sticks per person. Added to that you can bring in from the EU / Spain as many as you like provided they are for personal consumption...

[cohibaIV]

Yep, 50 each only from Gib into Spain..
But as many as you like from Spain into the UK...
So, you can do a few visits into Gib to help the stocks..

[Simon Bolivar]

Think you'll find that HMRC has an unofficial limit for within the EU. Because of bums doing ferry runs for fags bringing back thousands, the debate of what's for personal use has gone on. We could justify buying 200-300 cigars as personal use (over several yrs for most of us) but laying down cigars is not something HMRC are familiar with & anything over 250 is likely to be looked on unfavourably. As always, it's the few that ruin it for everyone else.

[tippexx]

Just looked it up Si. The allowance is 200 cigars from countries within the EU.

[cohibaIV]

Just looked it up Si. The allowance is 200 cigars from countries within the EU.

Where did you read that Tipp??

When I ever fly into Manchester their is never any customs about anyway..

And I'm sure it will also go on how many times you have been abroad over a period of time before they give a damn..

[tippexx]

http://www.heathrow-airport-guide.co.uk/dutyfree.html

But I guess all SWIMBOs have an allowance too!

[whisky77]

Fill your suitcase Stevieboy.

[Zigatoh]

I believe that 'allowance' is only the point at which customs are justified in asking you questions and so on, you should be able to bring any amount back from the eu so long as you can 'prove' it's for personal consumption - how to do that is the problem!?

[Eddie]

I guess a picture on this forum of your "collection" with a note that its aging nicely and should provide awesome so=mokes for the next X Years should do. But then again, any mention by you of stuff for sale may be used to incriminate.

[cohibaIV]

Just a picture of all of Stevies unsmoked regionals would convince any customs bloke that he is a collector...!!!

[spirit_of_will]

Chaps... there's a whole heap of misinformation in this thread and it's easy to see why/how as various stories of what people bring back with them can skew views on what the official allowances are. My old man is a retired HM Customs Officer and ran the anti-smuggling teams for the London Ports region, which included more than a fair share of flights from GIB and the Spanish airports in that area - HMRC more than understand how people use that Border between GIB/Spain...

The official blurb from HMRC is here: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAn...heUK/DG_181092

What it doesn't say in black & white is how HMRC deal with Cigars imported from GIB via Spain. One of the reasons why all the boxes have all the various stickers on them in the various languages is to help Customs Officials identify where they were bought - i.e. they'll be able to identify GIB boxes of sticks vs Spanish ones - UK cigs for example carry a "UK Duty Paid" message. If for example you are stopped on a Malaga-Manchester flight and have a case full of GIB boxes you could be charged for import as you have bought the Cigars outside of the EU.

That is the official position as I understand it. What happens in practise on a day to day basis may or may not be different. But it's useful to know what "could" happen if you are stopped.

[ACMCC]

Gibs classed as outside EU, even if you go through Spain you still have not paid EU duty! so 50 per person and upto 10 singles... this is what I was told when I looked into it a couple of years back...

[spirit_of_will]

Gibs classed as outside EU, even if you go through Spain you still have not paid EU duty! so 50 per person and upto 10 singles... this is what I was told when I looked into it a couple of years back...

Spot on correct as I understand it too.

[cohibaIV]

To be fair, if their are two of you and at 50 cigars each, one can only assume that 100 cigars is enough anyway..