Duty Free Allowances: Important Information

For those who are not regular travellers, this information may be useful.

Duty Free allowances refer to the amount of different goods that each adult person can carry into a Country on their arrival, whether arriving by ship, on an aircraft or through a land border.

The Allowances do not refer to what you buy when you depart a Country, very few Countries impose a limit on what you can buy on departure, but of course, if you buy in excess of the limit of the Country to where you are travelling, then it is a legal requirement to declare your purchases on arrival and pay any necessary taxes and duties applied to your goods.

Some retailers will restrict what you can buy on the way out, if you are obviously buying in excess of the limits for your arrival point. Or, they will ask you to justify your purchases by presenting the boarding cards of your Group.

Most professional retailers will know the limit for your arrival destination and if in doubt ask them to contact their customer service for specifics. Likewise, the inbound Allowances are posted in most baggage halls and in most in-flight magazines. You can also find this information on numerous websites. Just put "duty free allowances" into a search engine.

The allowances generally apply to each adult traveller, rather than a Group. So if the allowance is 1 Litre of alcoholic spirits, it is not unreasonable for a Group of 5 adults to import 5 Litres between them.

Duty Free goods are generally deemed as for the personal consumption of the individual who imports the goods. But, it is normally accepted that they can be given as gifts for Family and Friends in the Country of arrival.

Duty Free allowances are not normally granted to minors under 18 years of age.

Duty Free allowances refer to your first point of actual international arrival, in other words where you actually enter another Country. They do not refer to when you are "in-transit". i.e Staying within the confines of an airport, to catch a connecting flight. This area is known as being "airside" or within the airport's Customs and Security restricted area. In effect, you are deemed to be outside a Country when you are in an airside area.

Duty Free sales are not permitted for domestic travellers or for travellers going between Member States of the European Union.* Nor can you normally buy on arrival into an EU Country from outside the EU. There is one exception, Malta.

There is a difference between what is known as Tax Free and Duty Free in many Countries.

Duty Free really means goods free of “Excise Duties”, these are special taxes imposed by Governments on alcoholic products such as Liquors, wines, beers and spirits or on tobacco goods such as cigarettes, cigars or pipe tobacco. Tax Free normally means the reduction of the sales tax, such as in The USA or VAT (Value Added Tax) such as in Europe. Goods such as Cosmetics, fragrances and gifts attract these sales taxes in a domestic market, but in most countries Duty Free shops are allowed to discount this tax.

Tax Free goods normally have a monetary allowance rather than a volume amount, but this is not always the case, particularly for Perfumes. Once again your outbound retailer should be able to advise you of the limit allowed at your destination.

Most countries around the globe have a set duty free allowance of 200 cigarettes (1 carton) and 1 Litre of Spirits such as whisky, but again ask your retailer for advice.

“Duty Free on arrival”** can make life simpler, as not only are you already in your arrival destination so the Duty Free Shop*** retailer knows exactly what you are permitted to buy, but it also removes the need to carry the goods around the globe.

check before you fly http://dutyfreeonarrival.com/

* http://europa.eu/abc/european_countries/index_en.htm

** Duty Free on arrival = hors taxes a l'arrivee = duty free a la llegada = duty free na chegada.
*** Duty Free Shop = boutique hors taxes = loja franca = tienda duty free