This case concerns a person (hereafter”Appelant”) who was charged for unpaid customs duties in his luggae when entering the UK.
The Appellant told the Judge that he suffers from PTSD caused by a life-changing accident that resulted in him being in a coma for 3-days. Following the accident, the Appellant’s mother gave him money for a holiday. In January 2019, the Appellant went on holiday to Cambodia. At the time, the Appellant was a heavy smoker, smoking 40 cigarettes a day. Whilst on holiday, the Appellant decided to spend half of the money he had left at the end of the holiday on cigarettes, which were 9p per pack in Cambodia, and save the other half to pay the duty. He bought 5,208 AKA King Size cigarettes (“the Cigarettes”).
He did not do any research as to the amount of duty payable. He (mistakenly) thought that the duty, like the price of the cigarettes, would be low and that he would be making a saving.
On his return, the Appellant travelled from Phnom Penn to Bangkok to Abu Dhabi to Manchester. On arrival at Manchester Airport, he collected his suitcase and waited for his sportsbag containing the cigarettes (“the Bag”). It was the Appellant’s intention to collect the Bag, go to the red channel, declare the Cigarettes and pay the duty. However, the Bag did not arrive. The Appellant went to the desk near the carousel to report the Bag missing. He was asked to wait whilst the Bag was located. He waited for 10-15 minutes. He was then told that the Bag was in Abu Dhabi. He provided his name and address. He was not asked what was in the Bag. He did not declare the cigarettes, which were not in his possession at the time, before leaving the airport.
On 3 February 2019, the Bag arrived at Manchester airport from Bangkok via Abu Dhabi and was presented to Border Force for examination, during which the cigarettes were found and destroyed. Appelant received a letter and assessment for the duties. As the cigarettes were destroyed, Appelant did not pay the duties.
After this, Appelant was investigated for smuggling.
The Tribunal found no dishonesty in appellant’s conduct, as he always intended to declare and pay duty. The Appellant did not intend to evade duty. He always intended to declare the Cigarettes and pay the duty. He was not asked about the contents of the Bag when reporting it missing. The Appeal is allowed, and penalties imposed by HMRC are canceled.
Source: bailii.org
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
