Now, from a HMRC POV do you want to keep a system that allows private airplanes to land pretty much anywhere with no customs official in sight? IMHO it’s only a matter of time till they wake up to that. You can imagine the consequences.
That’s been the case for ages. There was a 24hr PN on the GAR for flights to/from non EU. The UK works with a “flying squad” which meets selected inbound flights and checks them.
Also, Brits tend not to buy much in the EU when travelling out there. For a start, it isn’t cheaper! Booze can be cheaper, a bit in France and quite a bit in Spain, but the “fill up a Transit van with beer, on a day trip to Calais” type of thing is fun when you are 25 and after that nobody (except certified p1ssheads) bothers.
This was discussed further back; the fear is that the UK adopts 24hrs PN for all foreign flights, which would be really dumb.
Anyway, I went to look for any changes. The general GA govt website is here.
There is a new (21 Dec 2020) GAR form here but I cannot see any evidence of notice periods relating to it. Their change log doesn’t list other changes, since October. Maybe somebody can find something? 21 Dec was before the latest deal was done but they ought to have known whether they will want 4hrs or 24hrs.
I will email the local police and ask them…
I doubt very much if UK Customs devote any effort at all to this stuff. I have never, ever, not on one single occasion, seen staff manning the Customs desks when coming back into the UK through an international airport.
Yes indeed, though I reckon they do hang around at terminals which are used exclusively for arrivals from non-EU.
Peter wrote:
Yes indeed, though I reckon they do hang around at terminals which are used exclusively for arrivals from non-EU.
They certainly do and I have seen them check people on numerous occasions (was never pulled out myself, though). May have to do with the fact that I did a lot of non-EU travel, but they were certainly very active and visible at Stansted which I often used for travel to secondary EU cities.
Perhaps I just never see them because of the flights I’m on. I’m only ever from the EU or the US.
The the value limit an item limit for a total limit?
For example, if you have 5 different items, each worth £200= total value £600, does that attract duty? Or is it just if a particular item has a value over the limit?
Presumably if you are entering the UK with valuables, but intending to leave again and them them with you (eg a tourist with an iPad/laptop ) that doesn’t attract duty?
This is from the govt website on the situation, current for years, and until 31 Dec 2020
So limits on personal imports have always been there, in some form, in practice. The actual legal limits were pretty high though, and nonexistent on some items. But funnily enough in all the years of travelling to the EU I have not once spotted anything specially worth buying, in any EU country, which I could not get for less on amazon.co.uk. So my personal impression is that this is just not a big thing.
I have no idea how it works with multiple categories being carried. When I was accessed once (on a trip from the US) the customs guy just added 20% to everything, comprising of 5% import duty and 15% (the then rate) VAT. They are entitled to estimate the value, for efficiency, and most people don’t argue about the odd 1%.
Regarding carrying valuable items out and back, when this was an issue, I used to carry the receipts. Customs around the world reportedly have a well oiled system for detecting where e.g. Swiss watches were bought, reportedly even having lists of serial numbers and which country the Swiss watch company shipped which serial number ranges to. IIRC, it was largely to pick up people buying stuff in Hong Kong.
I don’t think there is much meat in this for GA.
This is all relatively minor compared with the fact that UK Aircraft loose EU free circulation status on Dec 31st:
“Find “Boat” and replace with Aircraft local copy
I moved an aircraft in anticipation to France early Dec and planning to take it back to UK later im Jan, this should clean VAT mess both ways, practically, it only matters if aircraft is latter sold or exported (which is high likely) as going for a GA Eurotrip for more than 6months is lot more than my budget anyway….
I’ve just received an email from the LAA with a link to a CAA document I must download, and carry on all flights in the UK and NI from 1/1/2021.
The Bolkow 208C Junior is on an EASA permit to fly, it says. I thought it was on a standard LAA P to F.
Graham wrote:
I doubt very much if UK Customs devote any effort at all to this stuff. I have never, ever, not on one single occasion, seen staff manning the Customs desks when coming back into the UK through an international airport.
I don’t know about the UK but other countries do it. I’ve definitely been checked at other airports, even disembarking from an intra-EU connecting flight of an intercontinental flight (they see that your luggage tag doesn’t have the green bands). It never resulted in any tax collected. 
At a rather small airport, disembarking from a rather small plane, it is probably because I’m one of a few intercontinental passengers on the intra-EU connecting flight I’m disembarking from.
At a far larger airport I was using regularly, I was checked only one time. I have a feeling that surveillance flagged me for it; my luggage was late, and I “passed time” by making a survey of surveillance cameras in the baggage reclaim area. Creepy how many there were BTW. I was then stopped by customs, who were deeply unhappy to have to dig through my dirty laundry, and, in essence they orally reproached me that I quietly cooperated (opening my luggage upon the first request without any resistance) rather than protesting that I was a local resident returning from vacation, which would have saved them the unpleasant task. That was a bit surreal… A local resident returning from vacation could have dutyable/VATable purchases, so it should not be a “get out of being searched” card. I think they actually thought I was an active commercial smuggler or something like that… rather than fish too small to fry.
The only time I got my bags checked physically was on arrival to JFK when I replied that I have literally nothing in my big size luggage when a CBP officer asked (the luggage was literally empty on my out leg to relocate some stuff on my return leg to UK, the rest of my flat remains did come on a container, I understand everything inside was tax free AFAIK 
)
