Coming home from abroad? Check what you can bring in without paying duty — and what you'll owe if you go over
Your age
How you're arriving
Alcohol
Beer and still wine each have their own allowance. Spirits and sparkling/fortified wine share one allowance you can split.
Beer allowance 42 litres
Still wine allowance 18 litres
Sparkling / fortified wine & drinks up to 22% shared allowance
Spirits & liqueurs over 22% shared allowance
Tobacco
All tobacco shares one allowance, split across types. You get 200 cigarettes, or 50 cigars, or 250g of rolling tobacco — or any pro-rata mix.
Cigarettes full allowance 200
Cigars full allowance 50
Rolling tobacco (grams) full allowance 250g
Other goods
Gifts, souvenirs, electronics, perfume, clothes — total value of everything else you're bringing in.
Total value allowance £390
Estimated duty owed
£0.00
Enter what you're carrying to see your verdict
How UK duty-free allowances work
Since Brexit, the allowances are the same wherever you're travelling from — EU or non-EU.
The pro-rata split: spirits over 22% and sparkling/fortified wine share one allowance. You can bring 4 litres of spirits, or 9 litres of the weaker drinks, or any mix that adds up to your full allowance. Tobacco works the same way across cigarettes, cigars and rolling tobacco.
Go over and you pay on everything in that category, not just the excess — e.g. bring 19 litres of wine and you pay duty on all 19, not just the extra 1.
If you're over: declare your goods online before you travel (or to Border Force on arrival) and pay the duty — don't just walk through the green channel. Undeclared goods can be seized.
Under 17s get no alcohol or tobacco allowance at all — any amount must be declared and duty paid.
Duty shown here is HMRC's simplified excise + customs duty. 20% import VAT is also charged on the price you paid, on top of the duty.
Example split: 2 litres of gin (half your 4-litre spirits allowance) + 4.5 litres of port (half the 9-litre allowance) = exactly your full shared allowance, no duty.
Estimates for travellers arriving in Great Britain, using current gov.uk allowances and HMRC simplified rates. Figures are a guide only — always check gov.uk and declare at customs. Northern Ireland rules differ.