Flying home through Heathrow from outside the UK, you can bring in up to 42 litres of beer, 18 litres of still wine, 200 cigarettes, and other goods worth up to £390 without paying UK tax or duty. Go over any of these personal allowances and you pay tax and duty on the whole category, not just the amount above the limit. Checked September 2026.
How much alcohol you can bring back through Heathrow
The alcohol allowance depends on the type of drink, and you can combine categories within limits. You can bring in both a wine allowance and a beer allowance in full, plus either the "other drinks" allowance or the spirits allowance, or a split of the two.
| Category | Allowance |
|---|---|
| Beer | 42 litres |
| Still wine | 18 litres |
| Other alcoholic drinks up to 22% (sparkling wine, fortified wine, cider) | 9 litres |
| Spirits and other liquors over 22% | 4 litres |
You can split the last two categories between them, for example 2 litres of spirits and 4.5 litres of fortified wine uses exactly half of each. Bring back 19 litres of wine and HMRC's rule is that you pay duty and tax on all 19 litres, not just the one litre over the 18 litre limit.
What changed for cider and sparkling wine in 2026
From September 2026, under the Travellers' Allowances (Amendment) Order 2026, HMRC simplified how these categories work. Cider now sits in the same 42-litre category as beer, rather than sharing the smaller 9-litre "other drinks" allowance, and sparkling wine has moved into the 18-litre wine category alongside still wine. For Heathrow passengers bringing back cider or Champagne bought duty-free or on their trip, this means more can be carried duty-free than under the older rules, since the overall beer and wine limits themselves have not changed.
Tobacco allowance
You can bring in one of the following, or a proportional split across more than one:
- 200 cigarettes
- 100 cigarillos
- 50 cigars
- 250g of tobacco
- 200 sticks for electronic heated tobacco devices
There is no personal allowance for tobacco or alcohol at all if you are under 17, though you can still bring some for your own use as long as you declare it. If you are shopping airside before your flight, see what is actually on sale in the Heathrow duty-free guide.
Other goods: the £390 limit
Beyond alcohol and tobacco, you can bring in other goods, gifts and souvenirs worth up to £390 in total without paying tax or duty, dropping to £270 if you arrive by private plane or boat rather than a scheduled flight. If the total value of your goods goes over the limit, you pay tax and duty on the full value, not just the amount above £390, and you may also owe import VAT at the current UK rate. This is worth remembering for anyone returning through Heathrow with electronics, jewellery or other higher-value purchases, since Heathrow's own duty-free shops sell items well above this threshold.
Does this apply if you are only flying within the UK or from the EU
The personal allowance rules apply whenever you arrive in Great Britain (England, Scotland or Wales) from outside the UK, which since Brexit includes flights from EU countries as well as long-haul destinations. Since Heathrow is overwhelmingly an international hub, the large majority of arrivals here are covered by these rules; a purely domestic connection within the UK would not be.
How to declare if you go over your allowance at Heathrow
Heathrow, like other UK airports, uses the standard green and red channel system after baggage reclaim. If you are within your allowances, take the green ("nothing to declare") route. If you are over on anything, alcohol, tobacco or other goods, use the red channel and declare it, or declare online from up to 5 days (120 hours) before you arrive. Goods can be seized, and you may be fined or prosecuted, if you break the declaration rules.
Duty-free allowance versus a VAT refund: not the same thing
It is worth separating two things that sound similar. Your personal allowance, covered here, is about how much you can bring into the UK without paying UK import tax and duty when you arrive. A VAT refund at Heathrow is a completely different process for reclaiming tax already charged on goods you bought abroad, handled before or during departure from the country you are leaving, not on arrival into the UK. Travellers flying into Heathrow sometimes confuse the two, but only the allowance described in this guide affects what happens at UK customs when you land. Carrying large amounts of cash is different again, with its own £10,000 threshold covered in the guide to bringing cash through Heathrow.
What counts towards the £390 "other goods" limit
The other goods allowance covers items such as electronics, clothing, jewellery and souvenirs bought abroad, whether from an airport duty-free shop or an ordinary high-street shop at your destination. It does not include personal belongings you took with you and are simply bringing home, only things acquired on the trip. Keep receipts where practical, since a Border Force officer can ask for evidence of value if your bags suggest you may be close to or over the limit, and you can declare goods online from up to 5 days before you are due to arrive if you already know you are likely to be over.
The takeaway
The core numbers to remember flying into Heathrow are 42 litres of beer, 18 litres of wine, 200 cigarettes, and £390 of other goods, with cider and sparkling wine now folded into the larger beer and wine categories as of the September 2026 rule change. These are personal allowances per traveller and cannot be pooled with a partner or family member, so a couple returning together each has their own separate allowance rather than a combined one.