Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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265. To ask the Minister for Finance his views on a matter (details supplied) regarding duty paid within the EU; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42271/14]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that in accordance with Council Directive 2008/118/EC and section 104(2) of the Finance Act 2001, tobacco products tax is not chargeable on tobacco products that are bought tax-paid by a private individual in another Member State of the European Union for personal consumption by that person in this State. The tobacco products must be for the individual's own personal use and not for commercial purposes and they must be transported personally into the State by that individual.  Once these requirements are satisfied, quantitative limits generally do not apply.

The only exception to this is where EU law permits the imposition of quantitative restrictions on tobacco products purchased tax-paid in a Member State that has not applied the minimum tobacco tax rate required under EU law.  In accordance with EU Directive 2008/118/EU, as amended by EU Directive 2010/12/EU, I introduced a quantitative restriction, with effect from 1 January 2014, on the number of cigarettes that may be brought into the State for personal use by individuals travelling from Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania.  The Excise Duty on Cigarettes (Quantitative Restrictions) Order 2013  provides that the number of tax-paid cigarettes that may be brought into Ireland for personal use by individuals travelling from those Member States, without payment of further excise duty in Ireland, is restricted to 300 ().  Cigarettes in excess of that quantity must be declared by them to a Revenue officer and the appropriate excise duty must be paid. This restriction will remain in place until 31 December 2017, or until such time as the particular Member State has achieved the required EU minimum tax levels, whichever is the earlier.

Your correspondent may, however, may be referring to a provision in Article 32 of the Directive that Member States may apply indicative limits of 800 cigarettes, 400 cigarillos, 200 cigars and 1kg of smoking tobacco as evidence of amounts consistent with personal use.  Other considerations may also be applied in determining if products are being brought in for personal use and these are set out in Part 4 of the Control of Excisable Products Regulations 2010 ).

For completeness, quantitative restrictions apply to tobacco products brought into the State from outside the EU, or from territories where EU rules on VAT and excise duties do not apply, such as the Canary Islands.  Where passengers arriving in Ireland have travelled from these areas, they may bring a maximum of 200 cigarettes, or 100 cigarillos, or 50 cigars, or 250 grammes of tobacco into the State tax free.