In Great Britain, if the goods you bring home are worth more than your duty-free allowance, you pay tax and duty on the total value of the goods, not only on the part above the allowance. The other goods allowance is £390 for most arrivals and £270 if you arrive by private plane or boat. The allowance decides whether the full-value rule applies. It is not a figure you subtract from the bill.
Most people expect the opposite, because many tax systems work by deduction: take the allowance off the value and tax what is left. The GOV.UK rule does not work that way. A small overrun is the expensive case, because a few pounds over the line can turn a tax-free load into a bill on everything in it.
What the GOV.UK rule says
GOV.UK states that you pay tax and duty on the total value of the goods, not just the value above the allowance. Two more limits matter. You cannot combine your allowance with another person’s. Alcohol and tobacco have their own separate allowances, and going over those is also taxed on the full value. The £390 figure covers the general goods category only, so each category is checked on its own.
The rule applies to the goods you bring into Great Britain, not only to the goods you packed at home. Anything bought during the trip and carried home counts toward the total, so a shopping stop on the last day can push a load over the line even when the bag looked light at the start.
A worked example at £400
Say you bring home £400 of goods in the other goods category, with no alcohol or tobacco. The table counts VAT only, at the 20% standard rate, and leaves duty out so the mechanism stays visible. Duty on the same goods would be worked out on the same full value, under the rules for that product.
| Goods value | £400.00 |
|---|---|
| Allowance | £390.00 |
| Amount above the allowance | £10.00, which is not the taxable base |
| VAT if only the excess were taxed | £10 × 20% = £2.00 (wrong method) |
| VAT on the full value | £400 × 20% = £80.00 (GOV.UK rule) |
| Difference between the two | £80.00 − £2.00 = £78.00 |
The £2 figure is the mistake, and it is an easy one to make, because the £10 excess is the only number that looks like it is over. The rule taxes the full £400, so the VAT is £80. That is £78 more than the excess method suggests.
The same arithmetic shows why the threshold matters. At £390 the goods are within the allowance, so under this rule the 20% VAT is not charged on them. At £400 the VAT is £80 before any duty. A £10 difference in what you carry moves the result from nothing to £80, which is why the count belongs before you pack, not at the desk.
Arriving by private plane or boat, the threshold is £270. A load of £300 is taxed on the full £300, which at 20% is £60. The method is the same, only the line moves.
Duty follows the same logic. If the goods also carry duty, the duty is worked out on the full value of the goods, not on the amount above the line. The rate depends on what the goods are, so the example stays with VAT alone. The import calculation article shows how the duty and the import VAT then build on each other, and the import duty calculator runs those steps once you have the rate.
Where the line falls for your load
The threshold behaves like a cliff rather than a slope. Goods up to the allowance carry no tax under this rule, and the first pound over changes the result for everything in the category. The table applies the same rule at a few totals, using VAT only at 20% and leaving out duty, alcohol and tobacco.
| Total value of goods | Against the allowance | VAT under this rule |
|---|---|---|
| £350 | Within | Nil under the allowance |
| £390 | At the limit, still within | Nil under the allowance |
| £391 | £1 over | £391 × 20% = £78.20 |
| £500 | £110 over | £500 × 20% = £100.00 |
Moving from £390 to £391 takes the VAT from nil to £78.20. The jump is not proportional to the excess of £1, and that is the point of the rule. A traveler who is close to the line should count again before leaving the shop or the airport, rather than estimate.
Why you cannot pool allowances
If you travel with a partner, you cannot add your allowances together. Suppose you each have £400 of goods. Between you, you carry £800, but your partner’s unused £390 does not cover your £400. Count each person’s goods separately, against that person’s own allowance, and declare them as they are.
Other countries may use different methods
The Great Britain rule is not a template for every border. Other countries set their own thresholds, may tax only the excess, and can apply different rates and reliefs to different categories. A traveler who learns the Great Britain method and assumes it applies everywhere will be wrong at some borders. Check the customs authority of the country you are entering, and read its current page for the thresholds that apply to your trip.
The traveler allowance checker lets you test your own category totals against a limit and see what changes if you go over. Use it with the official rule for your destination, not as a substitute for reading that rule.
Before you travel
- Total each category separately, including general goods, alcohol and tobacco.
- Use the price you paid for the value check, not an amount you expect to get back later through a refund.
- Keep the receipts and invoices, since they are the evidence of what each item cost. The documents guide lists what to keep.
The UK tax-free shopping guide covers refunds, which is a separate question from the allowance. Once goods are over the limit, the duty and import VAT are calculated in the order described in how import duty and import VAT are calculated. Work through the allowance first, because it decides whether that calculation applies at all.