Web Buyers' Warning

Before you rush to order temptingly inexpensive wine from any company without an Irish website, remember it will be liable for…

Before you rush to order temptingly inexpensive wine from any company without an Irish website, remember it will be liable for excise duty of £1.61 per bottle, plus 21 per cent VAT on the total price - and cases of wine are cumbersome items which don't readily escape the notice of the customs officials keeping watch in parcel depots. "Only if you accompany wine into the country from abroad are you entitled to avail of the EU allowance of 90 litres for personal consumption," a spokesman for the Revenue Commissioners confirms.