Newsroom
A passenger arriving at Larnaca Airport with three luxury watches in his suitcase ended up paying more than €15,000 before his journey was over.
Customs officers found the watches, valued at about €57,000, in the luggage of the Cypriot passenger after he arrived from Switzerland on July 29.
Authorities said he had not declared them or paid the duties and taxes required when bringing expensive goods into Cyprus from outside the European Union.
He was charged €4,584 for failing to declare the watches and another €10,843 in duties and taxes. Altogether, his airport bill came to €15,427.
For anyone who enjoys a little holiday shopping, the case raises an obvious question: How much can you bring home before Customs wants to know about it?
The answer is €430 for people arriving in Cyprus by air or sea from a country outside the EU. The allowance covers goods for personal use or gifts, provided they are not being brought in for resale.
Switzerland can easily cause confusion. It participates in Europe’s Schengen travel area, but it is not an EU member and is outside the bloc’s customs and VAT system. That means purchases brought from Switzerland into Cyprus are treated as goods arriving from outside the EU.
The rule is not aimed specifically at watches or even at luxury goods.
It can apply to a new handbag, jewellery, clothing, a laptop, a camera, perfume or anything else bought outside the EU if the total value exceeds the traveller’s allowance. Gifts also count, even if the person carrying them did not buy them for themselves.
The rule does not normally mean travellers must declare the phone on which they boarded the flight, the watch they already owned, or the clothes packed for their trip. It concerns goods being imported into the EU. With particularly expensive personal belongings, however, Customs may ask for some proof that they were owned before the journey.
Travellers carrying purchases above the allowance should approach Customs on arrival and declare them. The goods are not necessarily illegal or prohibited; Customs simply calculates the VAT and any import duties that must be paid.
Walking past Customs without declaring them can create a second bill on top of the taxes, as this passenger discovered.
His nationality made no difference. The rules apply according to where the passenger is arriving from and what is being brought into the country, not whether the person holds a Cypriot passport.
Customs said the three watches were seized after they were discovered. Its announcement did not clarify whether they were later returned once the passenger paid the settlement and outstanding charges, or whether they were permanently confiscated.
