
1 
This Order may be cited as the Value Added Tax (Small Non-Commercial Consignments) Relief Order 1986 and shall come into operation on 1st July 1986.
2 
The Value Added Tax (Imported Goods) Relief Order 1980 and the Value Added Tax (Imported Goods) Relief (Amendment) Order 1985 are hereby revoked.
3 

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Order, no tax is payable on the importation of goods forming part of a small consignment of a non-commercial character.
(2) In this Order “small consignment” means a consignment (not forming part of a larger consignment) containing goods with a value for customs purposes not exceeding—


(a) £58 in the case of a consignment from a member State;

(b) £27 in any other case.
(3) For the purposes of this Order a consignment is of a non-commercial character only if the following requirements are met, namely—
(a) it is consigned by one private individual to another;
(b) it is not imported for any consideration in money or money's worth;
(c) it is intended solely for the personal use of the consignee or that of his family and not for any commercial purpose.
4 

(1) In the case of goods consigned from another member State, no relief shall be given under this Order unless the goods were acquired in the Economic Community subject to the taxation normally imposed in the domestic market of a member State and without relief from excise duty or turnover tax chargeable there.
(2) In the case of goods consigned from a country which is not a member State, no relief shall be given under this Order unless the consignment is of an occasional nature.
5 
Where a small consignment of a non-commercial character contains goods of any of the following descriptions, namely—
(a) tobacco products (being cigarettes, cigars or smoking tobacco);
(b) alcohol and alcoholic beverages (being spirits or wine), tafia and saké; or
(c) perfumes or toilet waters,
in excess of the quantity shown in relation to goods of that description in the Schedule to this Order, no relief under this Order shall be given in respect of any goods of that description contained in that consignment.
6 
This Order does not apply to goods contained in the baggage of a person entering the United Kingdom or carried with such a person.
T. Garel-Jones
Donald Thompson
Two of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury
3rd June 1986
SCHEDULE

(Article 5)
(1) Tobacco products—
cigarettes 50
or
cigarillos (cigars with a maximum weight each of 3 grammes) or25
or
cigars 10
or
smoking tobacco 50 grammes
(2) Alcohol and alcoholic beverages—
distilled beverages and spirits of an alcoholic strength exceeding 22% by volume; undenatured ethyl alcohol of 80% by volume and over 1 litre
or
distilled beverages and spirits, and aperitifs with a wine or alcohol base, tafia, saké or similar beverages of an alcoholic strength of 22% by volume or less; sparkling wines and fortified wines 1 litre
or
still wines 2 litres
(3) Perfumes 50 grammes
or
toilet waters .25 litre or 8 ounces
