Alcohol and Cigarette Allowances: Poland to UK and UK to Poland

Most readers searching this topic are travelling from Poland to England, so the UK rules come first, followed by the limits for the opposite direction. Since Brexit the UK is a non-EU country for customs, so goods bought in Poland are checked against UK personal allowances on arrival, and goods taken from the UK to Poland against the EU limits for travellers from outside the EU. Check the current limits before you travel.

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Cigarette and alcohol limits in both directions

Item (per person, personal use)	Poland to the UK (arriving in Great Britain)	UK to Poland
Cigarettes	200	40 by land; 200 by air or sea
Cigarillos	100	20 by land; 100 by air or sea
Cigars	50	10 by land; 50 by air or sea
Tobacco	250 g	50 g by land; 250 g by air or sea
Spirits (over 22% ABV)	4 litres	1 litre
Fortified wine and other drinks up to 22% ABV	9 litres (shared with the spirits allowance)	2 litres (instead of the spirits allowance; includes sparkling wine)
Wine	18 litres (still or sparkling)	4 litres of still wine
Beer	42 litres (beer and cider)	16 litres
Other goods	up to £390	up to €300 (land) or €430 (air or sea)
Minimum age for tobacco and alcohol allowances	no allowances under 17	17 or over

Sources: GOV.UK, Arriving in Great Britain and podatki.gov.pl (Polish). Both sets of limits apply to goods carried by the traveller; commercial quantities have no personal allowance.

How many cigarettes can I bring from Poland to the UK or England?

You can bring 200 cigarettes into Great Britain without paying UK tax or duty. The tobacco allowance is one of the following: 200 cigarettes, 100 cigarillos, 50 cigars, 250 g of tobacco, or 200 sticks for electronic heated tobacco devices. You can split it, for example 100 cigarettes and 25 cigars (half of each allowance). The limit is the same whether you flew, drove or took a ferry, and it covers England, Scotland and Wales (GOV.UK).

Cigarettes bought in Poland count towards this allowance in the same way as cigarettes from a duty-free shop: GOV.UK states that the allowances apply to goods wherever you bought them, including duty-free shops and high-street shops abroad. You may see a figure of 800 cigarettes quoted online: that is only a guide level for duty-paid goods brought into Poland from another EU country, below which the quantity is not treated as indicating trade (podatki.gov.pl). It does not apply to travel between Poland and Great Britain and does not raise your UK allowance.

Example: a traveller arrives in England with 300 cigarettes. The allowance is 200, so tax and duty are due on all 300, not just on the extra 100. Bringing 200 cigarettes and 50 cigars also goes over the allowance, because both belong to the one tobacco category.

How much alcohol can I bring to the UK from Poland or the EU?

The alcohol allowance for Great Britain is split by type:

• beer and cider: 42 litres;
• wine (still or sparkling): 18 litres;
• spirits and other drinks over 22% ABV: 4 litres, or products up to 22% ABV (for example port and sherry): 9 litres. You can split this last allowance, for example 2 litres of spirits and 4.5 litres of fortified wine.

Exceeding one category means paying tax and duty on all goods in that category: 19 litres of wine means duty on the full 19 litres. There are also separate allowances for vaping liquid (up to 50 ml) and for other goods (up to £390, or £270 by private plane or boat). Under 17s have no personal allowance for alcohol, tobacco or vaping products, and these products must still be declared (GOV.UK).

For how excise works on larger consignments, see our guides on cross-border duty-free alcohol allowance limits and UK alcohol duty rates.

Duty-free allowance from Poland: what are the rules for the whole trip?

1. Carry the goods yourself and use them yourself or give them away as gifts. Allowances cannot be combined with another traveller’s.
2. Check each category (tobacco, alcohol, vaping liquid, other goods) against the limits in the table.
3. If you go over any allowance, declare the goods online before you travel (possible from 5 days before arrival) or at the border, and pay tax and duty on all goods in that category.
4. Do not bring goods to sell or use in a business under a personal allowance: there are no personal allowances for commercial goods and they must be declared.

If you are shipping goods rather than carrying them, see duties and taxes when exporting goods from Poland to the UK.

Going the other way, Poland applies the EU allowances for travellers arriving from non-EU countries. The amounts below are per traveller, for personal use.

How many cigarettes and how much alcohol can I bring from the UK to Poland?

These allowances apply to people aged 17 or over bringing goods for personal use from a non-EU country (podatki.gov.pl, Polish).

Tobacco products (UK to Poland)

Choose one of the options; the limit depends on how you travel:

• overland travel: 40 cigarettes, or 20 cigarillos, or 10 cigars, or 50 g of tobacco;
• air or sea travel: 200 cigarettes, or 100 cigarillos, or 50 cigars, or 250 g of tobacco.

Driving from the UK? A ferry passenger (for example Dover–Calais) counts as a sea traveller, while taking the Le Shuttle train through the Channel Tunnel is overland travel (Directive 2007/74/EC, Article 3(3) and Article 8). However, the allowances are applied by the country where you enter the EU (for example France, Belgium or the Netherlands) under its own rules — for travellers other than air travellers it may apply the lower tobacco limit (40 cigarettes, Article 8(2) of the Directive). The limits above are the Polish rules, which apply for example when you fly from the UK directly to Poland.

Alcohol (UK to Poland)

The allowances from the different groups can be combined:

• drinks >22%: 1 litre, or drinks ≤22% and sparkling wine: 2 litres;
• plus still wine: 4 litres;
• plus beer: 16 litres.

Other goods

Apart from alcohol and tobacco, goods with a total value of up to €300 for overland travel and €430 for air or sea travel are exempt from charges. This limit does not include, among other things, medicines, fuel in the tank or up to 10 litres in a canister, or the alcohol and tobacco quantities above.

These are the limits per person, while travelling, for personal use (not for sale).

Important caveats

• Commercial quantities (for sale) = full customs clearance and duties are due — this is no longer “traveller’s luggage”.
• Exceeding the limits = an obligation to declare and pay charges.
• The rules and thresholds are sometimes updated — check the current information from the customs authorities before you travel.

For more on carrying alcohol across the border, see how much alcohol you can bring in duty-free. Moving from the UK to Poland? See moving from the UK to Poland.

Carrying more than for personal use, or moving house? That's a matter for a customs agency - we help with clearance and transfer of residence. See: Moving Back to Poland from the UK →

Sources

• GOV.UK: Bringing goods into the UK for personal use, Arriving in Great Britain
• GOV.UK: personal allowance overview, declaring goods
• podatki.gov.pl: goods carried by travellers exempt from charges (Polish)
• Directive 2007/74/EC

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This is an informational guide; confirm the current limits and rules with official sources before travelling. Easy Clearance / Agencja Celna UK.

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Carrying a larger amount of alcohol or cigarettes?

If you are exceeding the customs limits, we can help you account for duty and excise and prepare the customs declaration.

Call: +44 333 335 5072 or go to the contact form. Individual quote provided after documents are submitted. For what drives the price, see how much UK customs clearance costs.

Customs agency registered with CDS, UK EORI number.

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