Duty charges at airports

not sure if this should be in holidays or finance, but here goes. have read a lot lately about irish shoppers flying to the usa obviously availing of good exchange rates, more selection etc. now, as i understand it, if these shoppers are stopped at customs in dublin, they are liable to pay duty on items purchased. what happens in the case of a resident of roi who flies into belfast? surely the uk custom officials cant charge duty on goods that are only passing through the north?

Actually they can, sorry Sean. The rules are that you must pay duty/tax in the first EU country you land in. Even if you are travelling onwards. Of course if you are in transit to another flight e.g. via Heathrow you will not clear customs in the UK, therefore the Irish authorities are the first you will see.

One BIG warning. The UK take the limits far more seriously than us. It is £145 there. They DO stop people and you will be charged for the full amount on you, not just the amount above 145. Not sure if they are as strict in NI as "the mainland", pehaps other people know.

As ever marching through any customs with tons of shopping bags is a bad idea...

Some Revenue links that might be of relevance here:

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thanks guy's guess i'll take my chances at dublin or knock, at least the irish exchequer will benefit rather than mr darling