
1986 No. 939
VALUE ADDED TAX
The Value Added Tax (Small Non-Commercial Consignments) Relief Order 1986
Made 3rd June 1986
Laid before the House of Commons 9th June 1986
Coming into Operation 1st July 1986
Whereas it appears to the Treasury expedient that the relief from value added tax provided by this Order should be allowed with a view to conforming with Article 2(1) of Council Directive No.74/651/EEC (as last amended by Council Directive No. 85/349/EEC) on the tax reliefs to be allowed on the importation of certain goods when sent in small consignments from a State which is a member of the European Economic Community to another such State and with Article 5(1) of Council Directive No. 78/1035/EEC (as last amended by Council Directive No. 85/576/EEC) on the tax reliefs to be allowed on the importation of certain goods when sent in small consignments from a State which is not a member of the European Economic Community to a State which is a member thereof:Now, therefore, the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, by virtue of the powers conferred on them by section 19(1) of the Value Added Tax Act 1983 and of all other powers enabling them in that behalf, hereby make the following Order—
Citation and commencement
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.
Revocation
2 
The Value Added Tax (Imported Goods) Relief Order 1980 and the Value Added Tax (Imported Goods) Relief (Amendment) Order 1985 are hereby revoked.
Relief from value added tax
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   £39.
(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.
Conditions of Relief
4 
No relief shall be given under this Order unless the consignment is of an occasional nature.
Quantitative restriction on relief for certain goods
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.
Relief not applicable to travellers' baggage
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

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 250 millilitres
