Can I send alcohol or tobacco to the United Kingdom?
No.
Couriers generally refuse alcohol and tobacco in personal boxes. If sent, excise duty is always due, even on gifts, and no relocation relief applies. Travelers' allowances don't apply to shipments.
For every Onvoyo box: Onvoyo and most express couriers don't carry alcohol, tobacco or vaping products in personal boxes, whatever the destination allows.
More rules for the United Kingdom
Allowed with conditions
- Alcohol and tobacco
- Excise duty and customs duty are charged on any amount, even a small gift, and VAT usually applies too. No relocation, student, or marriage relief covers them. Cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco without UK health warnings or fiscal marks, and spirits over 35 cl without a UK duty stamp, can be seized. Couriers often refuse them.
Quantity limits
- Gifts (shipments)
- Gifts from one individual to another worth £39 (about $53) or less: no VAT or duty, except on alcohol and tobacco. Several gifts in one box each get the allowance if they're for different people, listed separately with their own values, and wrapped individually.
- Low-value goods (shipments)
- No customs duty on goods worth £135 (about $183) or less, except alcohol and tobacco. VAT still applies unless the goods are a gift worth £39 or less. This duty relief is due to be removed on a date still to be set, by October 2028 at the latest.
- Alcohol (travelers only)
- Arriving in Great Britain: 42 liters of beer and 18 liters of still wine, plus either 4 liters of spirits over 22% or 9 liters of drinks up to 22%, such as sparkling or fortified wine. Doesn't apply to shipments, which always pay excise duty.
- Tobacco (travelers only)
- 200 cigarettes, 100 cigarillos, 50 cigars, 250 g of tobacco, or 200 heated-tobacco sticks. Doesn't apply to shipments.
- Northern Ireland arrivals from outside the EU (travelers only)
- Lower alcohol limits: 16 liters of beer and 4 liters of still wine, plus 1 liter of spirits or 2 liters of drinks up to 22%. The tobacco and £390 limits are the same as in Great Britain.
Before you ship to the United Kingdom
- Tax-free limit
- Gifts from one individual to another worth £39 (about $53) or less pay no VAT or duty, unless they are alcohol or tobacco, which always pay excise duty. There is no general tax-free limit: other goods, including your own used things sent without Transfer of Residence relief, pay VAT from the first pound. Customs duty is not charged on goods worth £135 (about $183) or less in total, except alcohol and tobacco, which pay duty at any value. The government plans to remove this £135 duty relief on a date still to be set, by October 2028 at the latest.
- Receiver ID
- No UK tax number is needed for a personal shipment. If you claim Transfer of Residence relief, the courier needs your ToR unique reference number for the declaration. Without a valid one, you may be billed for import duties and administration charges.
- Transit
- 1-3 business days from Europe; 2-4 from North America; 3-6 from Asia
Questions
Can I send alcohol or tobacco to the United Kingdom?
No. Couriers generally refuse alcohol and tobacco in personal boxes. If sent, excise duty is always due, even on gifts, and no relocation relief applies. Travelers' allowances don't apply to shipments.
Ask about a specific item
Official sources
- 1.
HM Revenue & Customs
Tax and customs for goods sent from abroad (opens in a new tab) - 2.
HM Revenue & Customs
VAT rates (opens in a new tab) - 3.
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Animal and Plant Health Agency, and Border Force
Bringing food into Great Britain (opens in a new tab) - 4.
Animal and Plant Health Agency, Border Force, and Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
Bringing plants and wood into Great Britain (opens in a new tab) - 5.
- 6.
Border Force and HM Revenue & Customs
Bringing goods into the UK for personal use (opens in a new tab) - 7.
HM Revenue & Customs
Transfer of residence to the UK (opens in a new tab) - 8.
- 9.
HM Revenue & Customs (UK Integrated Online Tariff)
September 2026 HMRC currency exchange monthly rates (opens in a new tab)
General guidance, not legal advice. Customs in the United Kingdom makes the final decision on every box.