F. Duty on Tobacco

F. Duty on Tobacco

Under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance (Cap. 109), tobacco is a dutiable commodity. Importers or manufacturers must pay duty on tobacco. 

Duty shall be payable at the following rates:

Offences involving duty-not-paid tobacco

It is illegal to import, export, handle, manufacture, possess, sell or purchase duty-not-paid tobacco. The maximum penalty for such offences is a fine of $2,000,000 and imprisonment for 7 years.

If a person is in possession of 500 or more cigarettes that are in packets bearing the mark HKDNP or not bearing the Hong Kong Government’s health warning printed on the packet, the cigarettes are presumed, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, to be duty-not-paid.

Cigarettes sold at a price lower than the tobacco duty must be proven to be duty-paid, otherwise the cigarettes are presumed to be duty-not-paid.

Passengers, duty-free concessions and declarations

Incoming passengers aged 18 or above may bring into Hong Kong, duty‑free and for personal use, up to 19 cigarettes, or 1 cigar (or 25 g of cigars), or 25 g of other manufactured tobacco without paying duty.

Under section 34A of the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance, incoming passengers carrying tobacco in excess of the duty‑free concession must declare it to the Customs and Excise Department. Failure to declare, or making a false or incomplete declaration, is an offence. Upon conviction, the maximum penalty is a fine of $1,000,000 and imprisonment for 2 years.

For individual cases, the Customs and Excise Department may, instead of instituting criminal prosecution, deal with the matter under a “compounding of offences” arrangement. The person concerned must pay a penalty equal to 5 times the amount of duty payable plus an additional $5,000.