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Duty Free Allowance Question


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We sail from Malaga on 24th Sept on a 5 night cruise visiting Cadiz, Gibraltar and Madeira before arriving in Santa Cruz in Tenerife for flight home to UK.

My question is.....are we restricted to Canary Island rules on duty free to the UK despite the fact we may have made our purchases in, say,Gibraltar for example ?

 

Cheers

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Gibraltar is treated exactly the same as the Canaries and therefore you are only allowed 200 cigs 1 litre of spirits etc to bring into the UK

However you can buy more of duty paid goods in Madeira, Malaga and Cadiz Cigarettes will be approx half the cost of UK in Spain from a Tabac

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I,m pretty sure if you buy from the ships shop (cigs,drink etc),it will count towards the "outside of eec" ie 200 cigs,1 lt spirits,then anything bought inside eec is duty paid giving you that allowance (800 cigs ,10 ltrs spirits etc etc ).Anyway keep receipts from all. In my experience the ship's shop will just sell you anything not knowing the rules or caring about them.

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I,m pretty sure if you buy from the ships shop (cigs,drink etc),it will count towards the "outside of eec" ie 200 cigs,1 lt spirits,then anything bought inside eec is duty paid giving you that allowance (800 cigs ,10 ltrs spirits etc etc ).Anyway keep receipts from all. In my experience the ship's shop will just sell you anything not knowing the rules or caring about them.

 

The duty free allowance is the same wherever you travel. Anything bought from a duty free shop, including onboard the ship or within the EU, counts towards that limit.

 

Technically there is no limit to the amount of dutiable goods you can bring into the UK without paying UK Duty IF duty/tax has been paid in the EU Country of purchase. However HM Revenue & Customs consider the upper limits you mention as sufficient and will give anyone with more than that extra scrutiny and questioning. Usually followed by confiscation unless it can be proved to their satisfaction that the goods are for the allowed purposes.

 

Agree that the shop staff onboard will normally sell you as much dutiable goods as you want, some but not all may advise you of the limits. However it's the customers responsibility to declare all goods and pay any required duty at the Customs check.

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The duty free allowance is the same wherever you travel. Anything bought from a duty free shop, including onboard the ship or within the EU, counts towards that limit.

 

Technically there is no limit to the amount of dutiable goods you can bring into the UK without paying UK Duty IF duty/tax has been paid in the EU Country of purchase. However HM Revenue & Customs consider the upper limits you mention as sufficient and will give anyone with more than that extra scrutiny and questioning. Usually followed by confiscation unless it can be proved to their satisfaction that the goods are for the allowed purposes.

 

Agree that the shop staff onboard will normally sell you as much dutiable goods as you want, some but not all may advise you of the limits. However it's the customers responsibility to declare all goods and pay any required duty at the Customs check.

 

Re the duty free allowance the shops usually have a warning notice and its also published in the cruise news a few times a week. The shop staff usually advise you personaly of the limits if you are buying over the limit but will still sell you any amount.

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Anything bought from a duty free shop, including onboard the ship or within the EU, counts towards that limit.

 

How can you buy Duty Free in the EU unless you are travelling elsewhere ?

 

Surely that only applies to flights (or cruises) from any EU country direct to any non EU destination ?

 

There is a so called Duty Free shop at Palma cruise terminal - it was significantly cheaper to visit the large Carrefour supermarket and buy alcohol there.

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How can you buy Duty Free in the EU unless you are travelling elsewhere ?

 

Surely that only applies to flights (or cruises) from any EU country direct to any non EU destination ?

 

There is a so called Duty Free shop at Palma cruise terminal - it was significantly cheaper to visit the large Carrefour supermarket and buy alcohol there.

 

For cruises as long as the ship calls at least 1 non-EU port during the cruise then the ship can offer duty free sales. On the Celebration earlier this year the cruise didn't go outside the EU so the shops weren't selling cartons of cigarettes or bottles of alcohol.

 

The Duty Free stores ashore are supposed to check if you are travelling outside the EU (but, like ships, rarely do!). I've found that around the Med quite a few Duty Free Shops are more expensive than the same goods at the local supermarket!

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I've found that around the Med quite a few Duty Free Shops are more expensive than the same goods at the local supermarket!

 

Our local supermarkets (Malaga Province, Spain) are frequently cheaper than so called 'duty free shops'. If there is a specific brand you would like to know the price of just post on here and I wil check for you next time we are out shopping.

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For cruises as long as the ship calls at least 1 non-EU port during the cruise then the ship can offer duty free sales

 

If Gibraltar is on the itinerary (as it often is for Western Med cruises) then it'll be cheaper there, and a better selection, than on the cruise ship.

 

Many people who buy onboard do so for cabin consumption I suspect.

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