UK personal allowance arriving from France

Five tobacco categories, one per adult. Here is the full breakdown.

The five UK tobacco allowances

200 cigarettes: 10 packs of 20. The most common allowance for UK travellers. 100 cigarillos: small cigars. 50 cigars: standard size. 250g hand-rolling tobacco: 5 standard 50g pouches, 8 of the more common 30g pouches, or 10 of the 25g pouches. 200 sticks of tobacco for heating: IQOS-style products. You can split the allowance proportionally: 100 cigarettes (half) plus 25 cigars (half) is allowed. You cannot bring full amounts of more than one category. The same allowance applies whether you arrive from France, Spain, EU countries or anywhere else; the post-Brexit rules apply equally to all origins.

Per adult, no pooling

The allowance is per adult traveller, not per family or per vehicle. Each adult's allowance is theirs alone and intended for personal use or genuine gifts. Couples cannot pool into a doubled limit for one person; if your spouse does not smoke, their 250g allowance does not transfer to you. Under-17s have zero tobacco allowance regardless of family size. Cannot allocate part of an adult's allowance to a child. Border Force may ask if challenged about why you are carrying tobacco that exceeds your individual personal use. The simplest practical rule: each adult brings up to their own 250g personal allowance, and you can pool the bags but each adult's allowance is independent for declaration purposes.

What duty costs above the allowance

Three layers apply on any tobacco above the 250g/200 cigarette limit. Excise duty: £412.32 per kg of hand-rolling tobacco as of November 2025. For cigarettes, £319.62 per 1000 (specific) plus 16.5% ad valorem (percentage of UK retail price). Customs duty: 70% of value of the goods (the French purchase price). Import VAT: 20% on the total of value plus customs duty. Practical example: bringing back 1kg of French hand-rolling tobacco (750g over allowance, costing roughly £150 in France) incurs £310 excise + £105 customs + £113 VAT = around £528 total UK duty on top of French price. The same 1kg costs around £600 retail in UK supermarkets so the math no longer favours smuggling. For cigarettes: 1 carton of 200 (1 pack over allowance) declared incurs around £75 excise + £15 customs + £18 VAT = around £108 UK duty on top of French price.

Why the 1kg myth persists

Pre-Brexit, the EU operated Minimum Indicative Levels (MILs) under The Excise Goods (Holding, Movement and Duty Point) Regulations 2010, Regulation 13(4). For tobacco, the EU MIL was 1kg of hand-rolling tobacco or 800 cigarettes. Below this, tobacco was assumed to be for personal use and brought into the UK duty-free if travelling within the EU. This ended on 1 January 2021. The UK reverted to the Travellers Allowances Order 1994 (SI 1994/955) with the personal allowance of 250g and 200 cigarettes. The 1kg figure persists in older guides, social media posts and even some retailer websites because it was widely known for decades. Anyone bringing 1kg of hand-rolling tobacco to the UK now will be charged excise duty, customs duty and VAT on the entire amount above 250g.

Eurotunnel and ferry checks

UK Border Force checks tobacco at all UK entry points but particularly actively at Dover, Folkestone, Eurotunnel Coquelles, Newhaven, Portsmouth and Plymouth ferry terminals. Eurotunnel travellers face checks at Coquelles in France before boarding the train so duty must be paid before crossing if you are over the allowance. Dover ferry passengers are checked on UK arrival. Border Force can seize undeclared excess tobacco AND the vehicle used to transport them under the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 sections 141(1)(a) and 141(1)(b). Vehicle seizure is rare but possible for commercial-scale smuggling. For day-trippers, the practical risk is seizure of the tobacco itself.

The simplified declaration scheme

For quantities between the 250g personal allowance and an upper threshold (broadly the old EU MIL of 1kg), HMRC operates a simplified online declaration scheme letting travellers pay duty before crossing. The simplified rate for hand-rolling tobacco is excise duty £412.32 per kg + 70% customs + 20% VAT, identical to the full commercial rate. The scheme is faster than declaring at the border and avoids any risk of seizure. To use it: visit gov.uk before your trip, enter quantities and value, pay duty online, keep the confirmation reference, present at Border Force on arrival.

For French tobacco prices see our how much is tobacco in France guide. For the wider rules see how much tobacco can you bring back to the UK. For the 1kg myth see how many pouches of tobacco is 1kg duty free.

For more on UK tobacco rules and travel head over to our full vaping guides hub.