Guides / Alcohol and tobacco allowances UK–Poland · Updated 30 September 2026

Alcohol and tobacco allowances between Great Britain and Poland

Travelling between Great Britain and Poland means two sets of personal allowances. Here is what each side allows, where they differ, and when goods stop being personal.

This guide is also available in Polish.

Two different rulebooks, one journey

Since the UK left the EU, a trip between Great Britain and Poland crosses a customs border in both directions. That means two separate sets of personal allowances apply: the UK's rules when you arrive in Great Britain, and the EU's rules when you arrive in Poland from a non-EU country. The figures are not the same, and it is a common mistake to assume that what you could bring into Britain is also what you can take into Poland.

Both systems share the same basic idea. A personal allowance covers goods you carry yourself, for your own use or as a gift. It is not a quota for resale, and it has nothing to do with commercial shipments, which follow normal import rules with a customs declaration.

Arriving in Great Britain

GOV.UK sets out the following allowances for people arriving in Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) from outside the UK. Northern Ireland has its own page and is not covered here.

A few points from the guidance are easy to miss:

• There are no personal allowances for tobacco or alcohol if you are under 17.
• You can split an allowance within a category, for example half of the cigarette allowance and half of the cigar allowance.
• You cannot combine your personal allowance with anyone else's. Two travellers in one car each have their own allowance, but one person cannot carry both.
• The goods must be carried by you and used by you or given away as a gift.

If you go over the GB allowance

If you exceed an allowance, you must declare the goods, either online before you travel or at the border when you arrive, and you pay tax and duty on all the goods in that category, not only the excess. You can declare online from 5 days before arrival, or use the red channel or red-point phone at the border. Goods you plan to sell or use in a business must also be declared, and GOV.UK directs those travellers to its separate guidance on merchandise in baggage. Failing to declare can lead to seizure of the goods and the vehicle.

Arriving in Poland from Great Britain

For EU customs purposes the UK is a non-EU country, so travellers entering Poland from Great Britain use the EU's duty-free allowances for arrivals from outside the EU. The European Commission's Your Europe portal lists them as follows.

The tobacco line is the one that surprises most people. Most EU countries apply the higher limits of 200 cigarettes, 100 cigarillos, 50 cigars or 250g of tobacco, but Poland is one of the member states listed on Your Europe as applying the lower limits. So a carton of 200 cigarettes that is within the GB allowance is well above what Poland lets you bring in duty-free from the UK.

The age rule mirrors the UK: if you are under 17, you are not entitled to a duty-free allowance for tobacco or alcohol.

GB and Poland compared

Put side by side, the gap is significant. The GB beer allowance is 42 litres against 16 litres for Poland; still wine is 18 litres against 4 litres; spirits are 4 litres against 1 litre. On tobacco, Great Britain allows 200 cigarettes while Poland allows 40. If you are driving from Poland to the UK and back, plan purchases around the direction you are travelling, not the more generous number you remember.

Personal use versus commercial goods

Allowances are for personal consumption and gifts. Once alcohol or tobacco is intended for sale, for a business, or is being carried for someone who is paying you, it falls outside the personal allowance entirely. On the UK side, GOV.UK says goods you plan to sell or use in a business must be declared. On the EU side, the Your Europe guide levels for intra-EU travel are expressly for personal use, not resale.

Commercial consignments of excise goods between the UK and Poland are moved as imports and exports with full declarations. If that is your situation, see our guide to CDS import declarations and the overview of whether you need a customs broker.

Moving house between the UK and Poland

People relocating often assume that alcohol packed with household belongings travels under the same relief as furniture and clothes. That is not a safe assumption. For the Polish side, Agencja Celna UK has published a Polish-language guide to alcohol limits at the border (in Polish), which covers how alcohol is treated in a removal. For the wider rules on relocation goods, see the personal effects entry in our glossary.

Practical checklist

• Check which border you are crossing: the GB allowance applies when arriving in Great Britain, the EU allowance when arriving in Poland.
• Remember Poland's lower tobacco limit of 40 cigarettes from outside the EU.
• Count each traveller separately; allowances cannot be pooled.
• Nobody under 17 has an alcohol or tobacco allowance on either side.
• If you are over the GB allowance, declare online or use the red channel; duty is charged on the whole category.
• Anything for sale or business use is not a personal import and needs a declaration.

Related guides

• Personal purchases from the UK to Poland and the EU: duty, VAT and allowances

• Sending gifts to the UK from abroad: VAT, duty and declarations

• Importing Polish vodka and beer as a UK wholesaler

Sources

• Bringing goods into the UK for personal use: arriving in Great Britain (GOV.UK)
• When to declare goods to UK customs (GOV.UK)
• Alcohol, tobacco and cash allowances (Your Europe, European Commission)

General information, not legal, tax or customs advice. Rules change; confirm current requirements on gov.uk or with a registered agent before you ship.