Module 121 min2758 wordsFree — no account
What arises at the border: taxable event, tax base and customs duty
The module’s worked examples, then cases to attempt before revealing their solution · 1 section · 238 words · 2 min
Practical case
A packaging machine from the United States
A trading GmbH in Leipzig buys a packaging machine from a manufacturer in the United States for 20,000 euros in May 2026. Sea freight to the port of Hamburg, where the machine enters the Union, costs 1,000 euros, and the lorry to the warehouse in Leipzig another 400 euros. The freight contract runs to Leipzig; neither cost is included in the purchase price, and both are known at importation. Assume a customs duty rate of 2 percent for the machine. No excise duty is due, and the machine is not an Annex 2 item. What are the duty, the tax base and the import VAT?
Hint: Separate the freight up to the external border, which is already in the customs value, from the freight afterwards, which only § 11(3) UStG adds. The standard rate is 19 percent.
Show the solution
Customs value: 20,000 euros for the goods plus 1,000 euros sea freight to the external border gives 21,000 euros. Duty: 2 percent of 21,000 euros is 420 euros. Tax base under § 11(1) and (3) UStG: 21,000 euros customs value plus 420 euros duty under number 2 plus 400 euros transport to the destination Leipzig under number 3 gives 21,820 euros. Import VAT under § 12(1) UStG: 19 percent of 21,820 euros is 4,145.80 euros. Customs therefore demands 420 euros plus 4,145.80 euros, 4,565.80 euros in total.
Answer: Duty €420, tax base €21,820, import VAT €4,145.80
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