I am visiting my daughter in Wales in May. Her husband smokes Marlboros and I always bring him one carton of smokes in my checked luggage. She rolls her own cigarettes and uses Golden Virginia rolling tobacco. I fly BA and I can buy the rolling tobacco on board. Do I have to pay entra taxes on her tobacco or can I take it in Duty Free?
Thanks for any help.
Minette

It's been a long time since customs ever asked me about the amount of tobacco or liquor I am bringing in. Don't worry about it.

Hi minette,

Just go through the "Nothing to Declare" line.

Not enough tobacco for them to bother with.

May you take 200 cigarettes and a packet of tobacco into the UK without declaring them and paying excise duty and VAT? No. The limit for goods bought outside the EU, or bought duty free, is 200 cigarettes or 250 g of tobacco. You are legally required to go through the red channel and declare them

Can you take them in witout declaring them? Yes. HMCE have better things to do than harass people for a few grams of tobacco. To be honest, they'll probably strip search anyone declaring an extra packet of Gold Flake, assuming you're trying to distract them from the kilograms of heroin in thhe false bottom of your suitcase. But you are breaking the law by not declaring them.

I am 70 years old and am traveling with a gentleman who is 77--what is Gold Flake?
M.

minette, you WILL be over the limit, but I would just take it through the 'nothing to declare' channel. You will be only just over the limit, and I doubt they'd even look at you.

The only time I've ever been caught out was with about 1000 cigs (when my limit was 200) and I wasn't very subtle about it. All they did was confiscate the 'contraband' and wave me on.

If you can't face the small possibility of a bag search after such a long flight, then don't bother.

minette:

Gold Flake is a brand of tobacco. I'm not clear why you're sharing your age with us.

Flanneruk:
I only mentioned my age because I thought Gold Flake might be some sort of code word for modern illegal drugs and my age would let you know just how naive I am! When my kids were in college, they used to tease me when I didn't know so-called " in words" and I wasn't up-to-date.
On another note, my son-in-law loves foods like corn bread mixes, Bisquick , and Jell-o. When I visited him last year, I packed all those treats for him, but I took them out of their boxes and put them in Zip-Loc bags!

When I unpacked my treats upon arrival, my son-in-law said "Mum! Didn't you realize that it all looks like bags of heroin or cocaine?" It had never occurred to me that corn bread would be suspect! LOL
Minette

Oh Lordy, Minette

>I am 70 years old and am traveling with a gentleman who is 77....<

You fit the profile. My mother had to take off her shoes both leaving and arriving in the US.

And carrying backs of white, powdery sustances....I shudder to think.

Minette, I travel with similar food items in ziplocks when going from the US to the Caribbean. It never even occurred to me what it would look like to customs agents....and I'm a lot younger than you.

Thanks for the heads up. Maybe I'd better leave the flattened boxes from the food items in my baggage, too.

Statia:
My daughter loves Kosher garlic deli pickles and I made the mistake of putting a bunch of them in a zip-loc. Unfortunately, the zip didn't loc and my shoes, sweaters, etc. smelled of garlic for the longest time! LOL

May you take 200 cigarettes and a packet of tobacco into the UK without declaring them and paying excise duty and VAT?

Yes. <b>Because there are two of you!</b>

Statia - I cut the product label off the box and stick it inside the ziploc.

Robespierre:
Of Course! Thank you for reminding me I am not traveling alone. I am used to being on my own. This is my Gentleman Friend's first trip to Europe and he's going to meet my daughter for the first time.
He's from the mountains in Western Virginia and it will be fun when he talks to a Welsh taxi driver!
I, of course, want everything to be perfect, but, I am imperfect and I can only hope for a minimum of disasters! I only thank the Good Lord I only have to speak English (although my Welsh is VERY limited!) My son-in-law is from Somerset and on my last vist, He taught me a new Welsh word every day. I got to be quite good, I think--I love all the LLLL's!
Thanks to all you Fodor Friends for advice. I'll be coming back often with lots of questions. Promise not to ask &quot;cheap hotels/restaurants/is-it-worth-it/life-jacket-in-Venice, etc.&quot;
Minette