Vol. 439 No. 7
29 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Finance the reason there are restrictions on the quantity of duty free goods which can be brought into this country in view of the impression that was given during the run-up to the Maastricht Treaty Referendum that unlimited quantities of duty free goods could be brought in from member states of the European Union.
Since the completion of the Single Market on 1 January 1993, persons may purchase duty paid goods in other member states of the European Union, virtually without limit, for their personal consumption in this State, without incurring further tax liability on importation here. In the event that a person is queried as to the level of purchases of excisable goods, certain guidelines, including indicative amounts, have been laid down at EU level to assist memeber states to distinguish between private and commercial transactions. Where indicative amounts are exceeded, the onus is on the individual to show that the goods in question are for personal use.
Duty free purchases made in authorised outlets in the EU fall into a different category where separate rules apply. Such sales are, strictly speaking, not in conformity with the operation of the Internal Market; nevertheless, the Council of Economic and Finance Ministers agreed that, as an exceptional arrangement, duty free sales to travellers within the EU may continue until mid-1999 in order to allow the operators involved sufficient time to diversify their activities. Depending on the nature of the goods involved, various quantitative and value limits continue to apply. In the absence of internal border Customs checks in the EU, compliance with the relevant limits on such sales to individuals is achieved by means of vendor control arrangements. The duty free vendors are obliged to restrict sales to individuals to the permitted limits in the case of specified goods — drink, tobacco, etc — and to charge VAT on other goods where the specified value limit is exceeded. In this regard, I would inform the Deputy that the EU Council recently agreed that this value limit should be doubled to 90 ECU — £73 — with effect from 1 April 1994 at the latest. I am pleased to say that Ireland is already complying with this decision.
