Great Britain: alcohol and tobacco allowances

Enter your Great Britain arrival basket. This profile checks supported quantities and highlights conditions that need customs review.

Inputs
litres
Enter each beverage once. Use total liquid volume, not pure alcohol. Canada: exclude beverages at or below 0.5% ABV from these quantities; general goods/value rules still apply to them.
litres
Enter each beverage once. Use total liquid volume, not pure alcohol. Canada: exclude beverages at or below 0.5% ABV from these quantities; general goods/value rules still apply to them.
litres
Enter each beverage once. Use total liquid volume, not pure alcohol. Canada: exclude beverages at or below 0.5% ABV from these quantities; general goods/value rules still apply to them.
litres
Enter each beverage once. Use total liquid volume, not pure alcohol. Canada: exclude beverages at or below 0.5% ABV from these quantities; general goods/value rules still apply to them.
litres
Enter each beverage once. Use total liquid volume, not pure alcohol. Canada: exclude beverages at or below 0.5% ABV from these quantities; general goods/value rules still apply to them.
litres
Enter each beverage once. Use total liquid volume, not pure alcohol. Canada: exclude beverages at or below 0.5% ABV from these quantities; general goods/value rules still apply to them.
count
Australia: enter cigarettes outside the single opened packet here; enter that packet separately below.
count
GB/EU: enter products over 3 g each under Cigars.
count
grams
Australia: include the weight of all non-cigarette tobacco, including any cigars/cigarillos; do not add cigarette weight.

Results

Arrival allowance check
Within assessed quantities — conditions still apply
Allowance usage (each independent row must fit)
CategoryEnteredAllowanceUsageStatus
Beer + cider0 L42 L0%Within
Still + sparkling wine0 L18 L0%Within
Shared spirits / lower-strength allowance0 allowance shares1 allowance shares0%Within
Combined tobacco allowance0 allowance shares1 allowance shares0%Within
  • Arrival from outside the UK; alcohol categories effective 1 October 2026.
  • Quantities only. General goods/value exemptions, vaping and heated tobacco, commercial imports, sanctions, local restrictions and airline carriage limits are not assessed. Declare goods as required even within an allowance.
  • No duty quote: an overage can make an entire category taxable (including in GB and Australia), not just the excess.

Results update as you type. The share link stores your inputs after the # in the address, which is not sent to our server, but anyone you send it to can read them.

Last checked 2026-11-14. Rules change, sometimes at short notice. We list the date we last checked each official source; confirm with the official government source before you travel, buy or file. This is general information, not legal or immigration advice.

This is a general estimate for information only, not tax, legal or financial advice. Real rules have more conditions than a calculator can show, so check the official source below or a qualified professional for your situation.

Part of the Duty-free alcohol and tobacco allowance calculator. Change the inputs above to compare other cases.

How it works

For an independent category, usage is quantity divided by allowance. Where official rules permit proportional mixing, add the fractions: each fraction is that product’s quantity divided by its full allowance. A shared total above 1 exceeds the allowance. Separate rows cannot offset each other.

shared usage = Σ(quantity ÷ category allowance)

EU external arrivals and GB mix tobacco and the spirits/lower-strength category. US nonresident tobacco is proportional; ordinary US resident cigarette and cigar caps are independent. Japan uses actual combined tobacco weight for mixed baskets. Australia assesses one traveller: each cigarette counts as 1 g plus other tobacco weight, with a separate opened packet of at most 25 cigarettes. GB/EU cigarillos must weigh no more than 3 g each; enter heavier products under Cigars. Canada uses alcohol alternatives: wine-only, beer-only or the general mixed-beverage volume. Exclude beverages at or below 0.5% ABV; general goods/value rules still apply.

No intermediate rounding is applied. Display quantities use four decimals and percentages two. Input litres measure beverage volume, not pure alcohol. The GB category changes took effect on 1 October 2026; all profiles were checked on 14 November 2026. Other original commencement dates are not established here.

Key rules and figures

ItemValueSource
Profile scopeArrival from outside the UK; alcohol categories effective 1 October 2026.www.gov.uk
Alcohol42 L beer; 18 L wine; shared 4 L strong / 9 L lower strengthwww.gov.uk
Tobacco quantities200 cigarettes; 100 cigarillos; 50 cigars; 250 g other tobaccowww.gov.uk

Checked 2026-11-14.

From 1 October 2026, cider shares the beer category and sparkling wine shares the wine category. The remaining lower-strength products, including fortified wine, share a proportional allowance with spirits. Each traveller has a personal allowance; do not pool a family basket on this page.

Frequently asked questions

What is different about the Great Britain profile?
From 1 October 2026, cider shares the beer category and sparkling wine shares the wine category. The remaining lower-strength products, including fortified wine, share a proportional allowance with spirits. Each traveller has a personal allowance; do not pool a family basket on this page.
Does a within-allowance result cover every product?
No. Arrival from outside the UK; alcohol categories effective 1 October 2026. Only the displayed categories are checked; other products and monetary exemptions need separate assessment.

Sources

Last reviewed 2026-11-14; next review due by 2027-02-12. The method is written out above so you can check our math.