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HISTORY OF THE PIPE CLUB BOOK FOR SALE





Published in December 2016, the Pipe Club of Norfolk book covers the first 40 years of the club.

54 black and white pages with 40 pictures illustrating various events in the club's history.

This book represents a fascinating part of pipe smoking social history.

The .pdf file copy costs only GBP £4.99 or USD $5.99

To obtain a .pdf copy, simply click on the following Paypal link and enter payment details:

https://www.paypal.me/norfolkpipeclubbook 

I shall email your .pdf copy as soon as I see your order.

A few hard copies are available on Ebay: click here 
Purchasing Tobacco Goods via the Internet (HM Customs & Excise UK)
FROM WITHIN THE EC

Q. Is it legal to buy tobacco over the Internet from another European Community country?

A. Yes, but only if the UK VAT and excise duty is paid on the goods. The person who sells the goods must make arrangements for these taxes to be paid before they are sent to you. If you are a customer, it is in your interest to ensure this has been done, otherwise the goods are liable to forfeiture by Customs.

Q. What if the tobacco is a personal gift?

A. There are no statutory relief's for tobacco goods posted as gifts from other EC countries, however Customs will not normally make additional charges provided that

* It is a bona-fide gift sent from a private person in another EC country to a private person in the UK;

* It must be for your own personal use and cannot be sold to others;

* You must not have paid for it, either directly or indirectly.

* There must be no commercial or trade element to the contents of the consignment.

Q. Can I purchase tobacco from an Internet website as a gift?

A. No, purchasing cigarettes from an Internet website in another EC country to send a family member or a friend will NOT qualify for relief of duty and VAT.

Q. How can you go over to France and buy what you want for your own use but you can't do the same over the Internet?

A. Under Article 10 of EU directive (Council Directive 92/12/EEC), tobacco dispatched by a vendor in another member state to a private individual in another, forms a commercial transaction and is so liable to duty in the member state of destination. These types of purchases are known as 'distance selling' and appropriate UK and EC legislation must be followed.

Q. These websites claim that is legal for me to import cigarettes because they have had Spanish taxes paid on them, is it true?

A. No - even if the relevant taxes have been paid in another EC country, the UK duty and tax must be paid when the goods enter this country.

Q. What about the free movement of goods, surely undertaking these checks is illegal?

A. Smugglers have for many years used the international postal system in an attempt to circumvent UK Customs on drugs, obscene material and excise goods and legislation is in place to enable Customs to address the risks posed by this smuggling.

Q. What is Customs doing about the Internet sites selling these goods?

A. Customs is well aware of these sites and we are vigorously pursuing action against them, including:

* Officers at postal depots are actively targeting postal importations of cigarettes.

* Contacting websites in order to ensure they are aware of the correct legal procedures to follow when selling cigarettes to UK consumers. This ensures that the websites are in no doubt that what they are currently doing is illegal.

* Maintaining publicity on the Internet to ensure that the tobacco buying public are aware that Internet websites selling cheap cigarettes are a scam, and if they decide to purchase these cigarettes, they have a risk of having them seized

Q. Are you investigating any particular sites?

A. Yes, but we do not comment on individual investigations that may be ongoing.

Q. The website told me that it's ok to purchase from their website as the cigarettes are a gift?

A. The majority of these websites claim quite incorrectly that what they are doing is legal. These sites have been carefully worded in order to cause confusion and mislead the public. Many websites disguise the tobacco products they have sold as a gift in an attempt to deceive Customs.

Q. These websites have obviously misled me, whom can I complain to?

A. You should contact the Office of Fair Trading Public Liaison Unit on 08457 224 499, or e-mail enquiries@ oft.gov.uk

Q. How come you seized cigarettes from me and yet my friend regulary orders and has never had goods seized?

A. Customs will take action to target non-UK duty paid cigarettes sent from Internet websites. In 2001/02 Customs seized in excess of thirteen million cigarettes sent into the UK via the postal system, the majority of these cigarettes would have been dispatched from Internet sites.

Q. If I pay UK duty and VAT on seized cigarettes can I keep them?

A. Customs normally only restore seized cigarettes in exceptional circumstances. We do not ordinarily restore seized goods as we wish to:

* Ensure that excise goods that are not normally available in the UK from legitimate outlets do not become commercially available.

* Protect the revenues of both the UK Government and legitimate wholesale and retail trade. The current rate of Excise duty on 200 king size cigarettes is around £32.20. When you consider how much cigarettes would cost when you add the UK duty on top, there are clearly no savings to be made and the websites are ripping you off

FROM OUTSIDE THE EC:

Q. What are the rules for buying tobacco over the Internet from oustside the EC?

A. Tobacco sent from outside the EC must be properly declared and will be liable to import duty, UK VAT and excise duty. If, for example you order 800 cigarettes from a website from outside the EU and they are correctly declared, Customs will charge the duty for the goods to be released. The duty in this case will be approximately £120.

Q. What if they are not declared properly?

A. In these circumstances, the goods are liable to forfeiture under section 16 of the Postal Packets Regulations.

Q. What about Gifts, what regulations apply here?

A. There are concessions for "gifts" but these are subject to certain conditions:

* They must be of an occasional nature only, such as a birthday or anniversary;

* The value of the goods must not exceed 45ECU (currently£36);

* They must be correctly declared to Customs;

* They must have been sent by a private person abroad to a private person in this country;

* The gift must be for personal use of the recipient, or their family;

* There must be no commercial or trade element;

* They must not have been paid either directly or indirectly;

* In addition, any tobacco products must be within the following allowances: 50 cigarettes; or 25 cigarillos (cigars with a maximum weight of 3gms); or 10 cigars; or 50 gms of tobacco or a proportional assortment of the different products. Anything in excess of these allowances is liable to charges.
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