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Travelling from outside the EU

  1. Overview
  2. Duty-free rules
  3. Duty-free allowances
  4. How to calculate what you owe
  5. Prohibited or restricted goods in baggage
  6. Customs controls on arrival at the airport or port

Duty-free allowances

General goods

You can bring in goods free of duty and tax if their combined value is no more than:

  • €430, if you are 15 or over
  • or
  • €215, if you are under 15.

If a single item is worth more than your allowance, you must pay duty or tax on the full value. If you are bringing back any duty-free goods you bought when you travelled out from Ireland, these count as part of your allowance.

Alcohol and tobacco

In addition to your duty-free allowance for general goods, you have allowances for alcohol and tobacco products.

Tobacco allowances for individuals travelling from outside the European Union (EU)

Tobacco products

  • 200 cigarettes
  • 100 cigarillos
  • 50 cigars
  • or
  • 250g smoking tobacco.

You can split your allowance above on a fractional basis, for example, 100 cigarettes and 50 cigarillos.

The import of oral smokeless tobacco is generally prohibited. You will find further information in information on prohibitions and restrictions.

Alcohol allowances for individuals travelling from outside the EU

Alcohol products

  • 1 litre of spirits (whiskey, gin, vodka, and so on)
  • or
  • 2 litres of other alcoholic drinks with no more than 22% alcohol (for example, port, sherry, sparkling wine and some liqueurs).

You can split your alcohol allowance on a fractional basis, for example, 0.5 litres of spirits and 1 litre of port.

Wine and beer

  • 4 litres of wine (still)
  • 16 litres of beer.

Customs Duty, Excise Duty and Value-Added Tax (VAT), where applicable, are charged on goods in excess of the duty-free allowances.

Crews' Allowances

Reduced alcohol and tobacco allowances apply to transport crews.

Tobacco allowances for crew members

Tobacco products

  • 40 cigarettes
  • 20 cigarillos
  • 10 cigars
  • or
  • 50g smoking tobacco.

Alcohol allowances for crew members

Alcohol products

  • 0.35 litres of spirits (whiskey, gin, vodka, and so on)
  • or
  • 0.50 litres of other alcoholic drinks with no more than 22% alcohol (for example, port, sherry, sparkling wine and some liqueurs).

Wine and beer

  • 0.75 litres of wine (still)
  • 4 litres of beer.

Next: How to calculate what you owe

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