Cigarette Amount Not Duty Free

[archer99]

Hi,

I will be returning to europe soon and as i am shipping some things home ill have just a few clothes in my bag going back, now i know that your only allowed 200 cigs when leaving at the duty free, what about if i buy 6-7 cartons in 7/11 and put them in my bag before i go to the airport, will i still have a problem if they see them even though the duty is paid,

Thanxs

[imaneggspurt]

youll find the mods will throw this off i feel as you are asking for illegal advice, however id say you should be ok with it in your checked in baggage ( the thai end ) not sure about when you reach your destination though,.

[H2oDunc]

You could be charged with smuggling contraband items into the country. The only time you can bring more than 200 or 1 carton into the country is if you purchase them tax paid in a European country. As Thailand was not part of the European Union thew last time I looked it would be illegal to not declare them. As an aside, I had a friend who worked as a customs officer. He told me that if the customs officer asks you if you have anything to declare and you tell him you will pay the duty. If you when asked fail to declare the items and they are discovered you are technically guilty of smuggling as you have lied. Ask yourself is it worth saving a few pounds to risk going to prison, and or fined and being forever tagged EVERYWHERE you go as a smuggler.

Yes they do!

[gunnyd]

Also depending on what country you are going into, the declaration of the cigarettes will get them confiscated and thrown out. AFAIK pretty much every where even Thailand itself the rule is 200 cigarettes per adult and that's it. Tobacco and alcohol fall under special rules, unlike consumer goods like clothing or jewelery over the amount allowed, you declare it, then you pay duty. There is no option to pay duty on tobacco and alcohol, declare it, and hand it over. Or you can try to get through, most likely you will, but if you do get caught you will be detained and charged. It's not worth it.

[sportsman69]

Also depending on what country you are going into, the declaration of the cigarettes will get them confiscated and thrown out. AFAIK pretty much every where even Thailand itself the rule is 200 cigarettes per adult and that's it. Tobacco and alcohol fall under special rules, unlike consumer goods like clothing or jewelery over the amount allowed, you declare it, then you pay duty. There is no option to pay duty on tobacco and alcohol, declare it, and hand it over. Or you can try to get through, most likely you will, but if you do get caught you will be detained and charged. It's not worth it.

There is really no problem with this issue. Simply give up smoking at it's root source, If it it doesn't work for you there is no charge, can't be any fairer than that! PM me for details

[theoldgit]

I presume the OP was asking if he can bring cigarettes into Europe legally, I think the short answer is yes providing they are declared and the tax and duty paid. In the event that they placed in luggage or unaccompanied baggage and not declared then all bets are off and you would be subject to a heavy fine and a multiple of the tax and duty due.

Not sure about the rules for all European countries, but these are the rules for the UK.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBen...eUK/DG_10026463

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2009/bn85.pdf

[Sisaketmike]

Hi,

I will be returning to europe soon and as i am shipping some things home ill have just a few clothes in my bag going back, now i know that your only allowed 200 cigs when leaving at the duty free, what about if i buy 6-7 cartons in 7/11 and put them in my bag before i go to the airport, will i still have a problem if they see them even though the duty is paid,

Thanxs

Sorry, but this question should NOT be here. Smuggling is smuggling, cause you don't want to pay tax in Europe..try it and you'll see..........

[QED]

Blimey alot of uptight people on here.

As said, strictly it is illegal.

You could declare them and pay duty, but that is generally more expensive than buying in your home country. If you don't declare them worst case scenario as a first time offender is that they will be confiscated.

[fred2007]

Also depending on what country you are going into, the declaration of the cigarettes will get them confiscated and thrown out. AFAIK pretty much every where even Thailand itself the rule is 200 cigarettes per adult and that's it. Tobacco and alcohol fall under special rules, unlike consumer goods like clothing or jewelery over the amount allowed, you declare it, then you pay duty. There is no option to pay duty on tobacco and alcohol, declare it, and hand it over. Or you can try to get through, most likely you will, but if you do get caught you will be detained and charged. It's not worth it.

There is really no problem with this issue. Simply give up smoking at it's root source, If it it doesn't work for you there is no charge, can't be any fairer than that! PM me for details

What a load of freaking crap so next thing you tell us to stop drinking stop wearing perfume and stop buying anything else what is duty free, crawl back under the rock you came from

[imaneggspurt]

Well there seeems to be load of crap spoken here, heres the lowdown,IF you get caught the other end simply plead ignorant and hand them over with grace, ,you will NOT be black listed or termed a smuggler,i actually travelled back with a guy that had a suitcase FULL, we were pulled he had them conviscated,.he said to me " i think ive had it, its my third time " they took his passport away ,came back in 10 minutes,handed it back to him and said " your allowance is 200 .next time be aware ".this is 100 per cent true,i was gobsmacked, i consider that they thought that the loss of the cigs would be punishment in itself,,who knows, im sure there are other less lucky candidates,but this was what happened to george, he still seems to forget his allowance now !

[imaneggspurt]

Blimey alot of uptight people on here.

As said, strictly it is illegal.

You could declare them and pay duty, but that is generally more expensive than buying in your home country. If you don't declare them worst case scenario as a first time offender is that they will be confiscated.

"Blimey alot of uptight people on here." ........Probably nicotine playing hel_l with them,

[gunnyd]

There is really no problem with this issue. Simply give up smoking at it's root source, If it it doesn't work for you there is no charge, can't be any fairer than that! PM me for details

If you admit to the joy of nicotine whether by cigarette, cigar, you are automatically labeled as bad person.... Personally I could care less about it... But there is a deep hatred for smokers by many on TV. Search the board on the subject if you are in doubt.

Oh and about "Stop Smoking Now" type crap is bad form on the board. I am sure all of us get too much spam in our e-mail on that subject as it is.

Darn it I may have started one of those threads right here and now.....Like I care..

Edited July 8, 2009 by gunnyd

[Briggsy]

Hi,

I will be returning to europe soon and as i am shipping some things home ill have just a few clothes in my bag going back, now i know that your only allowed 200 cigs when leaving at the duty free, what about if i buy 6-7 cartons in 7/11 and put them in my bag before i go to the airport, will i still have a problem if they see them even though the duty is paid,

Thanxs

You must be having a laugh if you think your European government will accept Thai tobacco duty paid in lieu of their own taxes. You are mighty confused, my friend.

[bangsaenguy]

Hi,

I will be returning to europe soon and as i am shipping some things home ill have just a few clothes in my bag going back, now i know that your only allowed 200 cigs when leaving at the duty free, what about if i buy 6-7 cartons in 7/11 and put them in my bag before i go to the airport, will i still have a problem if they see them even though the duty is paid,

Thanxs

Sorry, but this question should NOT be here. Smuggling is smuggling, cause you don't want to pay tax in Europe..try it and you'll see..........

The OP is not trying to smuggle anything. He only enquired whether there is a difference in definition in ciggies bought at 7-11 versus Duty Free. One might assume (wrongly) that if they weren't bought at Duty Free that it may be ok to carry them to another country.

[archer99]

Hi

Cheers for all the comments, got back home yesterday and well i bought 15 cartons of cigs which i got in 7/11 in my bag and i also had a stopover in abu dhabi where i bought another 1000 so in all i got home safely with 4000 cigs without having no probs not stopped at all maybe just luck i dont know, in ireland the price of 20 cigs is over 8 euro so in my opinion it was worth the risk, not everybody would do it but thats there choice so please dont start moaning on about being a smuggler it was worth the risk even if i was caught,

Cheers

[bangsaenguy]

Definitely luck

[QED]

Definitely luck

Not really.

I have done the same as the OP about 20 times from all over the world to the UK and never had a problem - about 10 times from Thailand, before I moved here. Never for profit, only for personal use. I was paying enough tax in the UK already, which was part of the reason I left.

Only time I was ever stopped was when I went home for a month earlier this year, only had 4 cartons and they were all on different layers in my case. Girl asks me if I have anything - I say yeah 2 cartons and explain I am visiting my Mum for a month. Opened the suitcase and showed her one of them and she let me on my way.

Yes we know it is strictly against the law, but most of us are prepared to risk a few hundred pounds worth of cigs rather than pay our bloated governments ridiculous amounts in unecessary tax.

[gunnyd]

Definitely luck. Getting away with a crime 20 times doesn't make it right or an advisable thing to do.

[torrenova]

I don't see it as a crime. It may be technically illegal but people get away with proper (real) crimes all over the place and nothing is ever done. Plod should be out catching burglers, murderers, rapists and paedos etc. not worrying whether some bloke on the way back from his holidays has stuffed another 200 B&H into his suitcase. The world has gone potty.

By the way, bringing cigs to Thailand, the rates of duty are on a web page somewhere (can't find it now) but the horrific penalties of 10 times the applicable tax is true and stated. I recall that the tax on B&H is somewhere in the region of Bt60 or so. Thus, you could, technically, bring in your UK duty free B&H (which are still a rip off price) and pay the tax at around Bt600 a carton as opposed to Bt6000 a carton in penalty charges.

[TheFiend]

Been stopped 3 times flying back into the UK with more than I am allowed, Usually 800 and around 25 pouches of hand rolling baccy. Everytime I have been honest about how many ciggies I had, and they have always let me through after x-raying my bags.

Was a cheap charlie a week ago and brought some Krong Thip back to the UK.

[jackspratt]

As I have commented previously, funny old forum at times is TV.

You can discuss tax evasion (ie smuggling cigarettes) until the cows come home, but don't dare mention downloading torrents or the such like (where is the "scratches head" emoticon )