Bringing some bourbon home

[Elijah Craig]

Hi guys. I found this site while searching google and wondering if anyone here could help me with a query? Im lucky enough to be going to Kentucky with work and Im just wondering about bringing some bourbon home in my suitcase. I know the duty allowance is 1ltr but is it possible to bring home more than that and declare in it Dublin airport and pay duty on it? I wouldn't mind doing that if its possible but I would hate if my purchases were confiscated as I plan on buying some nice bottles! I know the other option would be to sail through customs and not declare. Ive never been stopped previously!

Ive been adding bourbon to my Irish collection for about two years but as you probably know bourbon aint cheap here. Looking forward to contributing more to the forum and will upload some pics of my collection though its only small compared to some on here!

Any advice would be weolcome. Cheers guys

Ed

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

I'm not 100% sure any more but your duty free allowance is different from bringing stuff home from point of origin country that you are traveling from.

So really you need to know the value of your items against the value of items your allowed to bring home for personal use.

You can bring crate loads of stuff home from fellow EU countries as long as you can prove it is for personal use. No so sure about the states though.

I'm sure there is something on the revenue site about it. Check for duties payable on "luxury" goods.

[Elijah Craig]

I'm not 100% sure any more but your duty free allowance is different from bringing stuff home from point of origin country that you are traveling from.

So really you need to know the value of your items against the value of items your allowed to bring home for personal use.

You can bring crate loads of stuff home from fellow EU countries as long as you can prove it is for personal use. No so sure about the states though.

I'm sure there is something on the revenue site about it. Check for duties payable on "luxury" goods.

Cheers for your reply. i dont think it matters anymore whether you buy it in duty free or in the country. According to Revenue:
The goods in question may have been bought either duty-free/tax-free or duty-paid/tax-paid outside the EU.

It doesn't give any information for bringing home more than 1lt. I might give them a ring and see what they say

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Cheers for your reply. i dont think it matters anymore whether you buy it in duty free or in the country. According to Revenue:
The goods in question may have been bought either duty-free/tax-free or duty-paid/tax-paid outside the EU.

It doesn't give any information for bringing home more than 1lt. I might give them a ring and see what they say

I've always gone by the rule of thumb of 2 bottles in my luggage and what ever i can get on Duty free on the way home.
I have never declared and felt comfortable with this amount but would understand if you were worried with several high end bottles.

Duty will be circa 12.77 per 75cl @ 40% as Duty is currently 42.57 per litre of pure alcohol.

So for you to work it out on the fly you do the following equation. Duty Price x % x Litres

So lets take a 46% bottle @ 75cl (US norm)

42.57 x 0.46 x 0.75 Duty = €14.69

But that is only the half of it as the other issue for you is value as there is VAT on top of that.

Customs will charge you but usually take a price point on a similar item here rather than the Origin so it's usually comparable price + Duty + Vat (=23%).

So say you purchased a bottle of 58% George T Stagg for €80 + Duty would be circa €18.50 However customs may say rather than pay the vat of 22.65 on top of that (80+18.50 x 1.23) to make a total of €121.15 or a cost to you of €40.15. They may say will this bottle is worth €180 on the market here so you owe us €33.65 or a total or €52.15.

So you have a lot to consider and weigh up before you go a purchase and declare ... quite interesting and we would love to hear how you get on

[Elijah Craig]

Cheers for your reply. i dont think it matters anymore whether you buy it in duty free or in the country. According to Revenue:
The goods in question may have been bought either duty-free/tax-free or duty-paid/tax-paid outside the EU.

It doesn't give any information for bringing home more than 1lt. I might give them a ring and see what they say

I've always gone by the rule of thumb of 2 bottles in my luggage and what ever i can get on Duty free on the way home.
I have never declared and felt comfortable with this amount but would understand if you were worried with several high end bottles.

Duty will be circa 12.77 per 75cl @ 40% as Duty is currently 42.57 per litre of pure alcohol.

So for you to work it out on the fly you do the following equation. Duty Price x % x Litres

So lets take a 46% bottle @ 75cl (US norm)

42.57 x 0.46 x 0.75 Duty = €14.69

But that is only the half of it as the other issue for you is value as there is VAT on top of that.

Customs will charge you but usually take a price point on a similar item here rather than the Origin so it's usually comparable price + Duty + Vat (=23%).

So say you purchased a bottle of 58% George T Stagg for €80 + Duty would be circa €18.50 However customs may say rather than pay the vat of 22.65 on top of that (80+18.50 x 1.23) to make a total of €121.15 or a cost to you of €40.15. They may say will this bottle is worth €180 on the market here so you owe us €33.65 or a total or €52.15.

So you have a lot to consider and weigh up before you go a purchase and declare ... quite interesting and we would love to hear how you get on

Thanks again for the information. I was kind of working on the assumption that the vat would be charged on the price I paid in the US so this is a bit of a kick in the teeth. Its hard to know what to do now to be honest. I plan on bringing 5 X 750ml bottles so I will only be a bit over the limit. Ive read stories(not in Ireland) of people declaring small amounts and being waved through because they cant be bothered with the paperwork so maybe I could get lucky that way. It would be a shame to go to Kentucky and not bring anything home

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Thanks again for the information. I was kind of working on the assumption that the vat would be charged on the price I paid in the US so this is a bit of a kick in the teeth. Its hard to know what to do now to be honest. I plan on bringing 5 X 750ml bottles so I will only be a bit over the limit. Ive read stories(not in Ireland) of people declaring small amounts and being waved through because they cant be bothered with the paperwork so maybe I could get lucky that way. It would be a shame to go to Kentucky and not bring anything home

That's a worst case scenario though and only if they can find similar items, what I would advise is declare and see what happens.

You will maybe get charged on 3 of them. Also I'm guessing that the ones you will be bringing back will be hard to find ones over here so if they are asking about them you can say they are similar to Gentleman Jack or the like

[Good Whiskey Hunting]

I declare them. The duty isn't too bad for what your hoping to get. It would cost lost more in an European specialist shop like The Whisky Exchange. If you don't declare and are caught you'll find yourself being called aside for random searches regularly.

The last thing you want to hear is a glove flicking and someone saying they'll have to go in dry. That's definitely the worst case scenario.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

The last thing you want to hear is a glove flicking and someone saying they'll have to go in dry. That's definitely the worst case scenario.

Your a bad man Willie, now you'll get Ed really worried

[birdman1099]

if you're ever interested in swapping some of your Irish whiskies for some Bourbon, let m e know. I might have a few that's of interest.

Happy hunting on your Kentucky Hunt.