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Are you returning to Belgium with goods from a EU member state?

  • What can I bring into Belgium from a EU member state (1)?

    You will not pay any excise duties in Belgium if you, as a private person, purchased the excise goods for your own use in another Member State of the EU, and if you transport them yourself. This applies only to goods for which the excise duties have already been paid in the Member State of purchase.  ‘For your own use’ means that the goods will be used or consumed by you or your household.

    In all other cases the Customs authorities will consider the goods to have been brought in for commercial purposes and excise duties will be due in Belgium.

    In order to decide whether the goods brought into Belgium by a private individual are indeed intended for personal use, the European Union has established a number of criteria available to the administration:

    • the commercial status of the interested party and the reasons for travelling;

    • the place of storage of the products;

    • the mode of transport;

    • any document related to the products;

    • the nature of those products and their quantities according to the following indicative limits ( table (PDF, 519.91 KB)).

    These criteria are only indicative levels that draw the attention of Customs to the fact that excise goods transported by a private person could have a commercial character. In that case, the private person pays the excise duties in Belgium.

    The Customs authorities will decide whether the goods are used for commercial purpose or not, based only on tangible elements (that corroborate their decision).


    (1) The Member States of the EU are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

    The United Kingdom is no longer part of the European Union but Northern Ireland remains part of the taxation and customs territory of the EU. For travellers, the United Kingdom is a third country (which means that remission of tax is possible) but Northern Ireland remains part of EU territory (therefore no remission of tax is possible).


    (2) The territories with special tax status include the Channel Islands (Guernsey, Jersey, etc.), the Canary Islands (Gran Canaria, Tenerife, etc.), the overseas departments (French Guiana, Réunion, Guadeloupe and Martinique), the Aland Islands and Mount Athos... Exemptions for imports from a territory with special tax status of the EU are limited to those granted to travellers coming from non-EU countries.

  • What can I buy in tax-free shops when I travel to or from a EU member state?

    • You do not buy duty-free at the duty-free outlets at all, but with payment of the excise duty and VAT.
    • When you travel to a territory with a special tax status, when you buy in duty-free shops in an EU airport, the rules for non-EU Member States (see below) are applicable: your purchases are tax-free.

    (1) The Member States of the EU are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

    The United Kingdom is no longer part of the European Union but Northern Ireland remains part of the taxation and customs territory of the EU. For travellers, the United Kingdom is a third country (which means that remission of tax is possible) but Northern Ireland remains part of EU territory (therefore no remission of tax is possible).


    (2) The territories with special tax status include the Channel Islands (Guernsey, Jersey, etc.), the Canary Islands (Gran Canaria, Tenerife, etc.), the overseas departments (French Guiana, Réunion, Guadeloupe and Martinique), the Aland Islands and Mount Athos... Exemptions for imports from a territory with special tax status of the EU are limited to those granted to travellers coming from non-EU countries.