EXEMPTION FROM IMPORT DUTIES


Goods carried in a traveller's personal luggage

Importation of goods from abroad, within the specified quantity and value allowances, carried in the personal luggage of a traveller arriving into the territory of the Republic of Poland is exempt from customs duty, if the quantity and type of those goods do not indicate their commercial use

The following quantitative allowances have been established:

alcohol products

  • spirits or liqueurs other than wine products or beer - not more than 1 litre in total,
  • wine products - not more than 2 litres,
  • beer - not more than 2 litres,

tobacco and tobacco products

  • cigarettes - not more than 200 pieces or
  • cigarillos - not more than 100 pieces or
  • cigars - not more than 50 pieces or
  • tobacco- not more than 250 g

perfumes: not more than 50 ml and eau de cologne: not more than 250 ml

medicine products - in the quantity required for the personal use of the traveller.

The condition to use the exemption from import duties relating to the said alcohol products as well as tobacco and tobacco products is the traveller's completion of 18 years of age.

The traveller may use the exemption from import duties within the quantitative allowance not more often than once a month.

The total value of goods, other than those mentioned above, carried in the personal luggage of the traveller, cannot exceed the amount equal to 175 EUROS, and in case the traveller is under 15 year old - 90 EUROS. This value allowance does not concern returned goods (which earlier had been exported from the Polish customs territory by a traveller having a permanent residence within the Polish customs territory) nor items imported by a traveller (having no permanent residence within the territory of the Republic of Poland and arriving temporarily into the Polish customs territory) with the intent of their re-exportation.

Different quantity and value allowances have been established for the persons who:

  • have their residence in the border area, or
  • cross the border due to a job they have been doing in the border area, or cross the border in relation to their job they have been doing concerning the operation of a means of transport used in the international traffic.

Exempted from import duties is the importation of goods in the personal luggage of those persons, provided the following quantitative allowances are respected:

alcohol products - not more than 0.5 litre in total
tobacco and tobacco products

  • cigarettes - not more than 20 pieces or
  • cigarillos - not more than 15 pieces or
  • cigars - not more than 5 pieces or
  • tobacco- not more than 20 g

perfumes: not more than 25 ml and eau de cologne: not more than 100 ml

medicine products - in the quantity required for the personal use of the traveller.

The condition to use the exemption from import duties relating to the said alcohol products as well as tobacco and tobacco products is the traveller's completion of 18 years of age.

The traveller may use the exemption from import duties within the quantitative allowances not more often than once a month.

The total value of goods, other than those established in the quantitative allowance, carried by those persons in the traveller's personal luggage, cannot exceed the amount equal to 80 EUROS.

The traveller having his/her residence within the Polish part of the border area, upon confirming that s/he is not coming from the border area in the country neighbouring the Republic of Poland and s/he does not cross the border in relation to her/his job being done with regard to an operation of a means of transport used in the international traffic, that person may use the exemption from customs duties respecting goods carried in the personal luggage within the established quantity and value allowances, indicated above.

The documents confirming the fact of staying outside the border area in the country neighbouring the Republic of Poland may be e.g. a bill, or an invoice, issued with the name of the traveller on them.

The goods exempted from import duty on the ground of Article 19014 of the Customs Code Act, those as indicated above, are also exempted from taxes on goods and services as well as from excise tax.
Legal situation - January 2002 - Legal ground

 

Items required by students to pursue their studies

Eligible for an exemption from import duties is a person arriving into the Polish customs territory with the intent of taking a course of learning, who is

  • enrolled as a student of a regular or evening full-time course of studies
  • enrolled as a student of a primary school, gymnasium (secondary school) or schools following a gymnasium level or primary school level.

The exemptions are used with regard to:

  • items required for the student's learning,
  • items used for the customary furnishing/equipping of his/her room,
  • clothing belonging to him/her.

These items must be used for the personal needs of the student, during his residence related to his/her studies.

The exemptions from the import duties of items required for the student's learning and things used for the customary furnishing/equipping of his/her room are used once for a school year.

For the importation of those things exempted from import duties, the following quantitative allowances have been established:

  • electronic equipment of common use - 1 set,
  • audio-visual equipment - 1 set of each type,
  • musical instruments used by students of music schools/academies - 1 piece of each type,
  • sports equipment used by students of sports schools/academies - 1 set of each type,
  • orthopaedic, auxiliary and medical devices used by handicapped students - in quantities necessary to fulfil their own personal needs.

The remaining objects (other than those for which quantitative allowances have been established) are exempted from import duties whenever their total value does not exceed the amount equal to 2000 EUROS.

The documents required to confirm the grounds for using the exemption from import duties include:

  • the list of imported items, with their specified quantities and values, made in two copies,
  • a certificate from school/university in the country, confirming a particular status of the student,
  • a written statement by the person using the exemption from import duties in the effect that s/he is using the exemption from import duties for the first time in that particular school year.

The goods exempted from import duties on the ground of Article 1908 of the Customs Code Act, those as indicated above, are also exempted from taxes on goods and services as well as from excise tax.
Legal situation - January 2002 - Legal ground

Source: Customs Service of the Republic of Poland www.mf.gov.pl/sluzba_celna