San Stefanos Online ~ North West Corfu
Welcome to San Stefanos (NW Corfu) => San Stefanos news and views => Topic started by: Soulie on July 29, 2012, 10:07:05 PM
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Hi,
Does anyone know if the duty free allowance has changed on cigarettes. I have just been walking the dogs and someone up the field told me a chap came back from Greece last week and had his allowance taken off him as he was only allowed to bring 800 cigarettes back? Dont seem right to me and I havent heard anything.
Does anyone know anything please?
Thanks
Cheryl
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cigarettes brought into the uk must be for your own consumption or a gift, they must not be for resale, the guideline is 800 cigarettes, more and they would not be classed for your consumption and confiscated. The person was most likely bringing in a large quantity. We understand this is something customs are clamping down on due to people abusing the free allowance purely for resale purposes.
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Yes - this now seems to be the Norm!!
One of our friends does a Med cruise from Southampton, that calls into Gibraltar - - - once a year.
He fills a suitcase with cigarettes - enough to last him a year and has no trouble bringing them in back home.
Gib is duty free!
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This is a guideline only. Under EU law you are entitled to bring back for personal use as many cigarettes as you can carry.
The guidelines say that you may be asked questions if you have more than 800. It was 3,200 until November. The Labour government raised it from 800 because of the chaos it was causing at ports and airports, and now this remarkably stupid government has opted for another bout of chaos.
We brought back 3,600 cigarettes. If I had been challenged and had cigarettes confiscated I would have taken HRMC to court and won. They are NOT duty free. VAT and Duty has been paid in Greece, and the only challenge that they have is that you are going to flog them in your local market. I'd like to see them prove that! They cannot charge extra duty without being hauled up before the European Commission.
Basically it's yet another pathetic money-raising effort by a collection of Etonian bullies who seem to think that "fag" means something you can treat as you want. Well, they can't. They are in breach of the law, not you.
Generally speaking, I suspect that they're more interested in cars and vans coming in on ferries, and package flights to and from Corfu are an unlikely route for smugglers.
Stand up for your rights. Cough a lot and sing Jerusalem as you go through Customs. Preferably bring Greek cigarettes like Assos and GR - on the grounds that (a) you support the Greek economy, and (b) nobody in their right mind would try to sell a carrier bag of those at a car boot sale.
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This is a guideline only. Under EU law you are entitled to bring back for personal use as many cigarettes as you can carry.
The guidelines say that you - - - - - - - - - - - - etc....etc.........
....... Cough a lot and sing Jerusalem as you go through Customs.
Preferably bring Greek cigarettes like Assos and GR - on the grounds that (a) you support the Greek economy, and (b) nobody in their right mind would try to sell a carrier bag of those at a car boot sale.
Nobody in their right mind would try to smoke them!! LOL
(Sorry Jim - I couldn't resist it!!).
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Funnily enough, that's what my psychiatrist said.
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Funnily enough, that's what my psychiatrist said.
Funnily enough I can't afford a psychiatrist!!
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Funnily enough, we thought that was the case!
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I've had a couple of guests asking about the tax free allowance. As I don't have a printer, I advised them to go to the 3 W's and print this page off. HMRC don't have a leg to stand on. They have no right to confiscate ciggies over and 800.
Arrivals from EU countries
When arriving into the UK from an EU country you can bring in an unlimited amount of most goods.
For excise goods such as alcohol and tobacco, there are no restrictions. However you must meet the conditions below:
•You transport the goods yourself.
•The goods are for your own use or as a gift. If the person you give the goods to pays you in any way - including reimbursing you for any expenses or payment in kind - then it's not a gift and the goods may be seized.
•The goods are duty and tax paid in the EU country where they were acquired.
If you don't meet these conditions, the goods and any vehicle that transported them, may be seized.
You can read more about Excise Duty in the guide 'Customs Duty, Excise Duty and Import VAT: introduction'. You'll find a link to this in the ‘More useful links’ section below.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/arriving/arrivingeu.htm
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Thanks everyone for your replies and help. will certainly print off information on website link and take with me. I usually bring 16 cartons back but they are only for me. It is only people who dont smoke who think that amount is excessive. Smokers realise it doesnt matter how long it takes you to smoke them, being so much cheaper it is a bargain.
thanks again everyone.
3 weeks Friday and counting...... ;D
Cheryl
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I have never smoked, but I am with Jim on this - the principle is that the tax is paid, but some jumped-up bureaucrat has decided to take the law into his own hands, and confiscate - that is just wrong!
In the mean-time another 100,000 ilegals are welcomed in so we can pay them free money plus a house!!
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Quite - actually it wasn't a bureaucrat - it was a member of what is laughably called our "government" - (more U-turns than an Albanian unblocking a Greek lavatory).
Same old thing - bash the smokers. Send them out into rain and snow, close the pubs, tell monstrous lies about secondary smoking and the cost to the NHS, whilst not revealing the fact that smokers pay three times as much tax as they cost the NHS, live on average five years less (in itself a massive saving), and if they banned smoking tomorrow (which would be a more honest approach) non-smokers would suddenly find themselves paying a hell of a lot more tax! The spread of infections on aeroplanes has massively increased since they banned smoking and saved fuel by turning down the air extraction rate.
Traditionally, being a leper has been a free ride, but now it's quite expensive! Apart from most of the rest of the world. Why is it that a packet of fags that costs about £6:50 in the UK costs about E4.0 even in desperate-for-cash Greece? Greed and hypocrisy, in my view.
Rant over! Phew... thing I'll have a ciggie and calm down.
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I agree with everything you say Jim. We always bring as many cigarettes as we can fit into our suitcases as there is no way we would pay UK prices.
Katie
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When you buy in the resort or towns then they are not technically duty free. You have paid the greek duty on them.
Purchases from airports are duty free and thats when you can only buy a limited amount.
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benson - I'm not sure that's true any longer. I think (but may well be wrong) that fags at the airport are the same price as in a shop and are duty-paid.
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They are in Corfu and I presume its the same in all EU countries.
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In mainland EU and UK airport duty free shops the cigs prices are the same as in the local shops. Duty is included in the price., ie €3 a packet in the village and €3 at the airport.
If of course u didn't smoke then u could get at least another two trips to San Stef per year for the same money. But then again, you pay your money and take your choice.
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benson - I'm not sure that's true any longer. I think (but may well be wrong) that fags at the airport are the same price as in a shop and are duty-paid.
You may actually find that when you go to any EU duty free, you are always asked for your boarding card, for a purchase.
The computerised till systems (or operator), will then denote if you are flying into an EU country, or one outside the EU, such as USA for example.
Flying to non-EU countries, will then usually remove the tax paid charge, but you will always be subject to the destination country's allowed limit for duty free..
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Loftyscot - I know how much we could save by not smoking but I enjoy smoking and the amount we save by paying £2.50 per packet rather than £6.50 for a good while, gives us enough money to pay for another week in December in Tenerife. On the other hand, if we did have to pay full price without having the benefit of duty free cigarettes, we would obviously have to try and give up :(
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Soulie, I can see both sides of the arguments, but I think Lofty means you could have had 2 or 3 weeks in Tenerife if you didn't smoke at all - - - - on what you would save.
I also get your point of you showing how much you save anyway by buying in Greece - tax paid saving £4.00 a pack compared to GB.
{Members, I don't want to kick off another chain of smoking -v's - non smoking views, as we've already done that in past post's
- some of which got a bit heated, so please don't}!
I don't smoke (well 10 only at age 16), and never really have, so I will never fully understand how addictive nicotine is, or why people like to smoke.
I just don't like the taste, smell etc etc of cigarettes, it's a purely personal thing, it's just not for me.
However I also understand just how much some people really do enjoy a smoke, which is every individual's right.
Looking at it from simply a purely financial point of view as per Lofty's observation, if you smoke exactly - - just 20 a day, at GB prices,
you would burn £2,372.50 a year each, or £4,745.00 per couple, at Greek prices you would pay £912.50 or £1,825 a couple, saving £1,460.00 each or £2920.00,
(that's if you could buy enough in Corfu for the whole year). That is enough for another holiday !!!!!
30 a day at GB prices, would be £3558.75 each, or £7,117.50 per couple or £1368.75 per single or £2,737.50 a couple at Greek prices.
Who could blame anyone for wanting to save the exorbitant tax that is charged in GB.
Someone I met on holiday in Corfu, who was a gold medal winner for coughing, smoked between 60 to 100 per day, (Don will know who).
During conversation, h asked me how I managed to go away 3 or 4 times a year - -
I suppose I save the money I would have spent on cigarettes, and I don't often go out drinking at home,
(my job ensures that you can't really drink at night and go in early to work as we get random tested),
and it's amazing how all these combined savings can add up to the cost of a couple of holidays.
On the other hand We also met Jimbo and Gillie, who really enjoy a smoke and a nice drop of wine, and have as many holidays as they want, so my question is - - -
where do you two save money?? LOL - - - (running for cover now - yes I know you still work Jim).......
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Actually, we don't have as many holidays as we want, unfortunately. We managed two last year because it was cheaper to go to Ag Stef for three weeks than to go to Venice for three days - which is what we'd thought of doing. One of the reasons we like AS is that it's a lot cheaper than most places. Plus the fact that cigarettes are a sensible price.
As I work at home, there are no travel costs. We only use the car for a bit of veggie shopping - if we need to go into town the bus is free. Gillie doesn't drink much alcohol - and I'm happy with cheap glugging vino for a gentle sup in the evening. The cost of living in Hull is relatively low, with good local produce - and we eat out (and drink out) very rarely. For example, a glass of wine in a local wine-bar is about £3.50, whereas I can get three bottles for £10 at the off-licence 30 yards away.
The other point is assiduously monitoring holiday prices on the web. Thomson's prices can vary by a huge amount week to week. Hence last year's spectacular £340 each for three weeks at Little Prince - if you take into account lack of heating costs and low-price fags, it was probably cheaper to go than not to go!
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Thanks Tonyco for putting figures down in writing. Scary isnt it when you look how much we do waste on cigarettes and I try not to actually put figures on it so I dont feel too guilty. I am sorry I didnt want to cause a debate on smoking, a relative newbie on this site so didnt realise I was opening a can of worms. I wasnt picking at Loftyscot in any way at all so apologise if it sounded like that. Sometimes things written down look different to how they were meant.
Anyway thanks for all the replies, I will still endeavour to bring 16 cartons back as per usual (x2 with OH) and I am so looking forward to going to SS and will let you all know how we get on. ;D
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soulie - don't worry about picking on loftyscot. We all do. In fact it's the most fun some of us have!
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Tony - I wish you hadn't put all that multiple holidays stuff in our minds! Very naughty.
Just felt forced to go back to Nafsika for 25 nights, late September - ::)
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Tony - I wish you hadn't put all that multiple holidays stuff in our minds! Very naughty.
Just felt forced to go back to Nafsika for 25 nights, late September - ::)
All right for some!
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When you're as ancient as we are and freed of the burdens of 9 to 5 toil, you will appreciate the importance of grabbing life's little pleasures now, before the grim reaper shuts the check-in desk of opportunity.
Anyway, how many times have you been or will be going away this year?????
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I am playing Donald Trump's golf course in Aberdeen tomorrow. Had dinner there tonight. Fabulous and sunny too today.
Now my wife would say if I didn't spend as much money on golf........We all have our vices . Thank goodness :-)
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Hey Soulie - it's just a bit of fun! carry on as you wish!
Jimbo - - nice one - - Enjoy 4 weeks away!! sounds good to me!!
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Jimbo - how fabulous will be lovely to see you both again soon 8)
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Looking forward to seeing you! Tell Aris to get the charcoal in!!!
I'll be doing quite a bit of writing while we're there - part of the excuse - the other part being that we both have "significant" birthdays during that period (got a 7 in, but it ain't 17 !) and this way we can avoid embarrassing surprise parties organised by our offspring!
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See you there jimbo - we are at the Nafsika from the 21st for 2 weeks!
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Excellent! I'm the distinguished (or possibly extinguished) gent with the young blonde!
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Haha i will look out for you! I have got the advantage as you have a profile pic.
I am blonde too but not a young blonde! :(
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Dont ask to see Jimbos wristband....Natasha will get jealous!!
I've heard Big Boris is over there for the final of the Greece v Albania cucumber growing tournament so beware!
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Wow Jim that's great will be wonderful for you both to have your Birthdays away sure Spiros and the wonderful staff will look after you where better to spend your Birthday
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Jimbo, they might turn up in the Naffy......and surprise u there instead.
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Tony - I wish you hadn't put all that multiple holidays stuff in our minds! Very naughty.
Just felt forced to go back to Nafsika for 25 nights, late September - ::)
Looks like you two will be the only ones there, at least for the last couple of weeks!!
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If that's true at least we'll be guaranteed to win the Nafiska Pub Quiz!
It was still quite busy that time last year. Nice for walking :-)
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If that's true at least we'll be guaranteed to win the Nafiska Pub Quiz!
It was still quite busy that time last year. Nice for walking :-)
Not this year, so I hear from Chris, he finishes in early October.
And I suspect Speros will win the quiz, he writes the questions!
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Just to let you know we didnt have any trouble bringing duty free ciggies back. Bought 40 cartons through (yes all for us but wont have to buy any here for quite a few months) without any trouble at all.
I did print off the bit from internet which states you can bring unlimited back as long as for personal use as you suggested on here, so thanks for advice.
Cheryl
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Did you have an extra case?
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I can get at least 8 cartons in my flight bag alone!
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Did you have an extra case?
No didnt Tony. Had 10 cartons in hand luggage (holdall which didnt have much in when we went) and 10 in my suitcase and same for OH. Dont ram the suitcases full so never a problem. ;D
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Good idea for you smokers, I am not crazy about smoking, but I don't like to see silly taxes to try to force people to give up, when it's personal choice.
You wouldn't mind so much if the tax money wasn't then wasted!!
Good luck to you all!
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I wouldn't mind if they didn't tell lies or omit certain "facts." For example, Norman Lamb - Health Minister who claims to have given up smoking a week ago! - says smoking-related illness (which is anything from a broken leg to a broken heart if you smoke) costs the NHS £2.7 billion per year. He fails to mention that UK revenue from tobacco tax and duty was £11.1 billion in 2011.
I'm not supporting smoking. I'm an addict. I hope young people will not start to smoke. But - if the government invested some of the vast tax money it receives from smokers into R&D on things like better electronic cigarettes (because, honestly, they just don't feel right currently) instead of waging a war against something that is legal, then perhaps we could see a way forward.
It may be hard for non-smokers to understand, but I hope some will see that there is a massive hypocrisy in taking vast amounts of tax whilst also condemning the activity. A real smoke-free future has to be an honest one. Taxes will have to rise to compensate for the loss of revenue. All happy with that?