Ministers will bring back duty free shopping to the EU from January

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BRITS will be able to stock up on cheap booze when they travel to and from the EU after Ministers confirmed they will bring back duty-free shopping next year.

From January passengers will no longer have to pay duty on alcohol and cigarettes bought at airports, ports, international train stations and ships and planes.

Brits will be able to stock up on cheap alcohol with new duty-free shopping

Government sources say EU rules have prevented British passengers from buying duty-free when travelling to the EU after they were first implemented in 1999.

It signals the return of the booze cruise to the continent as duty-free shopping returns to ferries between France and Britain.

These new changes mean that a bottle of wine in Heathrow could be up to £2.23 cheaper when travelling to Spain after Brexit.

A bottle of Champagne or Prosecco will be £2.86 cheaper, while a can of beer will be 38p less expensive.

Boozers will be able to save £11.50 on a litre bottle of spirits.

Treasury Minister Kemi Badenoch said: “The government is taking advantage of the opportunity provided by the UK’s new relationship with the EU to enable passengers travelling from GB to the EU to purchase duty-free excise goods once they have passed security controls at airports, ports, and train stations on international routes, on the same basis as currently applies to passengers travelling to non-EU destinations.

“This means passengers travelling from GB won’t have to pay UK VAT and excise duty on these purchases of alcohol and tobacco products when they travel to an EU destination.

“They will also be able to purchase duty-free goods on-board planes on international routes, on international train journeys and ships sailing from GB to a destination outside the UK for consumption on-board and to take-away.

“This is something that many businesses have raised as part of the consultation and the government will implement this as soon as the transition period ends.”

And the government is also handing a boozy boost by QUADRUPLING the amount of alcohol an individual can bring back to the country tax free.

From New Year’s Day Brits will be able to bring three crates of beer, two cases of still wine, and one case of sparkling wine back home from the EU, without paying any taxes on arrival.

Booze cruises are coming back for Brits

Ministers are also abolishing an “expensive and inefficient tax break” which allows foreign visitors to claim tax back on clothes and electronics from outside the EU.

Sources in the Treasury found that it only benefited London and retail outlets in Bicester, Oxfordshire, which is popular with Chinese tourists.
The new rules will apply to England, Scotland and Wales.

Earlier this year Calais’s mayor Natacha Bouchart floated the idea of a hi-tech electronic tax refund for British tourists so they can make the most of the bargains.

She wants the French government to authorise the new duty free zone which would also cover luxury items like chocolate, perfume, and electronic goods to compete against the tax-free regime on the ferries and at the shuttle terminal.

Back in February local deputy Philippe Mignonet said: “Our mayor is fighting for the whole town of Calais to benefit from the same duty-free rules as the ferries.”