Simplified rates for bringing personal goods into the UK

If you’re bringing personal goods into the UK for your own use, or to be given as a gift and you’re transporting the goods yourself, you can use the online service to:

The online service will calculate the duties owed by using simplified rates of customs and excise duty. This is a quick and easy way to make your declaration, and by using the online service, you can pay any tax or duty due before you arrive in the UK. The rates we use to calculate the duties owed will depend on the type of goods and total value of the goods you’re declaring.

By using the online service to declare your goods, you’re choosing not to use the customs tariff rates and main Alcohol Duty and Tobacco Products Duty rates to calculate the amount of customs and excise duty you owe.

If you think that using the online service does not give you the best overall outcome for all the goods you’re declaring, then you can make an oral declaration to Border Force on arrival in the UK. If you choose to make an oral declaration using the customs tariff rates and main alcohol and tobacco duty rates, they will apply to all the goods you’re declaring.

When you enter the value of your goods in a foreign currency, the online service calculates the tax and duty owed using HMRC’s exchange rates for customs and VAT. We use the rates that apply at the time you make your declaration.

If you’re making an online or oral declaration, you may have to pay import VAT. Import VAT is calculated on the total value of the goods you’re declaring plus any customs and excise duty due and is charged at the current UK VAT rate.

If you’re travelling from EU countries to Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales), you may not need to pay any customs duty on goods you’re declaring if those goods have been made or produced in the EU. Find more information on bringing personal goods into the UK.