Research and analysis

Executive Summary: Understanding of rules on bringing goods back from abroad and future expectations  (2017)

Published 15 July 2025

This report was commissioned under the Conservative administration (2010 to 2024), and conducted in 2017.

HMRC Research Report 811

1. Background 

At present customs rules vary when bringing goods back to the UK from countries within the European Union (EU) and from outside the EU, whether this is bringing them in by person or by post. This study sought to enhance HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) understanding of, and data on, the public’s awareness of and adherence to duty free allowances and restrictions.  

The overarching aim of this research was to explore the public’s understanding of the current rules regarding customs duties (both when bringing goods back in person and when posting them), and perceptions of how these rules may change when the UK leaves the EU.  

Questions designed by HMRC were run on 2 waves of the ONS Omnibus survey in July and August 2017. Ipsos MORI conducted 30 face-to-face in-depth interviews with members of the public during the same period. Findings in this report reflect the policy context and behaviours and experiences of research participants at the time. 

2. Travel and shopping behaviour 

A third of the British public (33%) had travelled overseas in the past 3 months. Of these, almost 8 in 10 (78%) had travelled to destinations inside the EU and a fifth (22%) to non-EU countries on their most recent trip. Most passengers (89%) travelled by aeroplane.  

Of those who had travelled abroad in the past 3 months, almost half (44%) had brought something back to the UK from overseas. The most commonly bought items were general consumer goods, with two in ten (20%) passengers having bought these. The next most commonly purchased items were spirits (13%) followed closely by cigarettes (12%). Wine (6%) and beer (2%) were less frequently brought back to the UK. 

Six in ten passengers (60%) reported that they made their purchases in the country they visited on their trip and a further 4 in 10 (40%) bought items in duty free shops whilst in transit. Almost one in ten (8%) purchased items whilst travelling, such as on the aeroplane or ferry.

Overall, 7 in 10 passengers (72%) used the green channel to re-enter the UK and 5% used the blue channel, even though 78% of passengers travelled from EU countries. Less than one per cent of passengers used the red channel. When returning to the UK from the EU 7 in 10 passengers (73%) used the green, nothing to declare customs channel to re-enter the UK, and 6% used the blue arrivals from the EU channel. When returning from outside of the EU 80% of passengers remember using the green customs lane. Less than one per cent remember using either the blue or red channel.  

The qualitative research found that the extent to which purchases were planned or made spontaneously depended on the type and value of the item. For example, cigarettes, alcohol and items bought for business purposes tended to be highly planned whereas souvenirs and gifts were purchased spontaneously. 

Five per cent of people had used Value Added Tax (VAT) retail schemes and nearly half (47%) expected something similar to be available for UK citizens once the UK leaves the EU.  

3. Understanding of duty free allowances, duties and taxes 

There was low awareness that there are no customs limits when bringing goods back to the UK from within the EU with over half of people (57%) thinking there is a limit.  

There was also low understanding of the current duty-free allowances, duties and taxes payable when bringing items to the UK from outside the EU. Awareness of limits was highest for the most commonly bought items such as cigarettes and spirits: 2 in 3 (66%) knew that 200 cigarettes could be brought into the UK from outside the EU. Five per cent thought that the limit was 100 and 2% thought it was between 201 and 300. Half of people (50%) were aware of the one litre limit for spirits, and a further 29% thought it was 2 litres. In comparison 7% knew how much wine could be brought in. Nobody knew the correct amounts of beer or general goods. For general goods, over half (56%) thought the limit was over £390. The closest guesses to the actual amount were £300 (3%) and £400 (2%). Fifteen per cent thought the limit was £500.  

Despite this low awareness of the detail of customs limits, the majority of people (95%) expected negative consequences if they were found to have exceeded limits for bringing items back from outside the EU. Of these, 4 in 10 (40%) thought they would have to pay a fine and a similar proportion (37%) thought that items over the allowance would be confiscated. A third (32%) thought that all items would be confiscated. Two in ten (19%) thought that they would be prosecuted. 

Most travellers (86%) did not look for information about customs limits at any point during their trip. Of those that did not look for information, almost 3 in 10 (28%) did not think to check them and the same proportion (28%) did not feel it would make any difference to their behaviour. Almost one in ten (8%) reported that they knew the limits already.  Of those who had looked for information beforehand, 3 in 10 (28%) went to the company they booked their travel through, a further third (34%) got this from information at the airport and two in ten (21%) went to the HMRC website.  

Four main factors underpinned travellers’ behaviour regarding declaring items: 

• low active consideration of customs 

• low awareness of when and how to declare items 

• the traveller’s attitude to risk, with those more open to risk being more likely to exceed limits 

• negative experiences of declaring items which deterred travellers from doing so in the future 

4. Public understanding of postage rules 

A fifth (21%) of people had ordered something for delivery from outside the UK in the last 3 months. The majority (77%) of these items were received from outside the EU. As customs rules were applied when sending items, people receiving and sending parcels demonstrated stronger compliance with the postage rules than those bringing items back from abroad.  

Of those who had ordered something from outside the UK in the last 3 months, a quarter (26%) had been required to pay a charge to receive their parcel. Two in ten (20%) did so. Four per cent did not pay but received their parcel anyway and a further 2% did not pay and did not receive their parcel. The qualitative research found that people were less likely to pay to receive lower value items and were more willing to pay the duty if the item was of high value or a gift. This was because lower value items no longer seemed good value or worth the total price once the duties had been applied.  

Having to pay customs fees to be able to receive parcels led to a higher awareness of customs rules when receiving items in the post than when bringing them back in person. People found out about customs duties when they got a card informing them of the duty to be paid. Duties did not influence the shopping behaviour of those who ordered items from abroad regularly or who were looking for a particular item. However, amongst individuals who had been looking to get an item for a better price the additional fees did deter them from shopping outside of the EU in the future. 

The majority of those who had received a delivery within the past 3 months (84%) had not checked at the point of purchase whether VAT or duty would be payable on their items. The minority who had, either looked on the website the purchase was made from (8%), the HMRC website (2%) or a search engine (2%).  

5. Expectations of changes to customs allowances and rules when the UK leaves the EU 

Three in four people (74%) expected that after the UK leaves the EU customs allowances between the UK and EU will change. A quarter (26%) believed there would be no change to the rules. Most of those who thought there would be changes expected that the allowances would be brought into line with the rest of the world (45%). There was no difference of opinion regarding expectations of changes to customs limits between those who had travelled abroad and those who had not.  

In the qualitative research, participants who thought that there would be more restrictions on postal limits when the UK leaves the EU expected prices for sending items to increase.  This group also expected checks to become more thorough, items to take longer to send or arrive and that import taxes would be introduced making it more difficult and costly to send or receive items. However, other people thought that the process would stay the same as it is now.  

Those interviewed who expected there to be changes to customs and postage rules after the UK leaves the EU felt that this would have little to no impact on their current behaviour. The only people who felt that they were likely to be affected were those who travelled for the specific purpose of buying cheaper cigarettes and alcohol.  

6. Communicating changes to allowances 

As and when changes to customs rules come in to force it will be important to proactively share this information as people were unlikely to actively seek this out, either for travelling or post. Over 8 in 10 people (86% and 84% respectively) had not looked up this information before travelling or ordering items for delivery from overseas. Current awareness was driven by word of mouth, signs in duty free shops when travelling, signs or verbal checks in the Post Office when sending a parcel or a having fee to pay when receiving a parcel. 

Whilst people expected generic information about the changes to be widely publicised, for example in the news, current awareness of customs duties suggests that information about the changes will need to be placed in an appropriate context. When rules change it will be important to give information to people when they are in the decision-making process such as when they are purchasing tickets, in duty free shops or when sending items via post. As the most common places for purchasing items to bring back to the UK make these purchases are overseas (60%) or in Duty Free (40%) it will be important to reach people with information about changes before they reach their destination country. 

Appropriate channels for communicating changes to customs rules could include information included with ticket, advertising in appropriate locations, PR stories on travel sites, signs in departure lounges and duty-free shops, posters and leaflets in the Post Office and on the GOV.UK or HMRC website.