Customs clampdown on Christmas booze

FRENCH residents travelling to countries like Spain for cheaper Christmas booze are risking hefty customs taxes if they exceed formal limits on amounts for “personal use”.

If you bring back more than 10 litres of spirits, you may be asked to prove they are for a family event, for example by showing written proof of a wedding announcement, a customs adviser said.

Connexion reader Wilf Wood, from Béraut in the Gers, said he was amazed to be stopped by French customs officers on returning from a drinks run to Bossòst in Spain, stocking up on items like Armagnac, whisky, beer and wine.

He said: “The supermarket where I shop is usually crowded with French people who hop across the border. You go for a day out and fill up your boot with booze that is cheaper than you could possibly get in France. Armagnac is made on our doorstep, but you can buy it for two thirds the price in Spain; the Spanish must tax alcohol less.”

Mr Wood said he and wife, Yvonne, were flagged down on the road between Bossòst and Montréjeau, Haute-Garonne. A customs officer told them they were half a dozen bottles over the limit for their spirits, but within those for other kinds of drink.

Mr Wood said: “It’s not as though we had a trailer-full. He let us go with a slap on the wrist, saying, ‘Don't do it again’, but I did not think he had the right. I thought that, inside the EU, you were allowed to bring as much as you liked for personal use. When I asked for proof that the law set specific limits, he could not give it. I said he was making up rules as he went along.”

Mr Wood added: “I have been going back and forth across the border for the past 15 years. It’s not as if there is some massive contraband going on; it is a day out and bringing a few bottles back. The French customs seem determined to spoil all that.”

A French customs service adviser told The Connexion that, if you are coming back from an EU country, you are allowed up to 10 litres of spirits, but you can bring more if you prove it is for personal use.

“You might, for example, be allowed to bring more if you show it is for a special event, a marriage or family party and you can prove that. For example, for a marriage you might be asked to show proof of the publication of the banns.

“If you can’t, it can be considered to be for commercial use and you risk having to pay extra tax: French VAT at 19.6 per cent and customs duties, which vary by degree of alcohol. For most spirits it is €1,512.96 per 100 litres, pro-rata if you have not got as much as that.”

However she said that demanding payment is at the officer’s discretion if the excess is small.

The adviser added you cannot circumvent the rules by ordering over the internet. Such alcohol imports are subject to French VAT and duties immediately, and you should visit a customs office to pay the taxes before the items are sent. You are then given an attestation to be sent to the supplier, who will attach it to the parcel to show the taxes were paid.

nThe French rules for “personal use” are: 10l of spirits; 20l of fortified wines such as port, madeira or vermouth; 90l of wine, of which no more than 60l of sparkling wine; 110l of beer.