Importing goods into Germany as a company from outside the EU
Your company is registered outside the EU and ships goods into Germany, to sell there or elsewhere in Europe. Germany collects import VAT at customs with no reverse charge, a deferral moves the payment to the 26th of the second following month, and a fiscal representative is allowed in one narrow case only. This guide sets out each rule, who carries it and when, with a link to the official text.
What a non-EU importer faces in Germany
Six obligations, who carries them and when they apply.
| Obligation | Rule | Who | When or how long | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EORI number | Issued free of charge by the Generalzolldirektion, Dresden office | The importing company | Zoll-Portal required from 1 October 2026; no processing time published | Zoll, EORI number |
| Customs declaration | The declarant must be established in the EU; otherwise a direct or indirect customs representative established in the EU | The importer appoints the representative | Each import | UCC art. 18 and 170 |
| Import VAT (EUSt) | Paid to customs; no reverse charge | Collected by customs under customs rules | At import, unless deferred | §21(1) and (2) UStG |
| Deferred payment | No guarantee needed if the EUSt is fully deductible | An importer granted deferral under UCC art. 110(b) or (c) | 26th of the second following month | §21(3) and (3a) UStG |
| Fiscal representative | Only for a business with no seat or establishment in Germany that makes only exempt transactions there and has no input VAT to deduct | A tax adviser, or a forwarder or customs representative established in Germany, with a power of attorney | No official timeline found | §22a UStG |
| VAT registration | Outside the Fiskalvertreter case, the foreign company registers in its own name | The foreign company | Competent office and timeline not found in official sources | §22a UStG |
The sections below take each line in turn. The rules are those published in the official sources on 6 November 2026.
EORI number and customs representation
The two things German customs needs before the first declaration.
In Germany, EORI numbers are issued by the Generalzolldirektion at its Dresden office, in the master data unit (Stammdatenmanagement). The number is free. Since 1 October 2026 the application must go through the Zoll-Portal, and the paper form 0870 is accepted only as an exception. The customs page does not deal with companies established outside the EU and does not say how long allocation takes (Zoll, EORI number).
Which country issues your number depends on where you start. A company not established in the EU registers with the customs authority where it lodges its first declaration or applies for its first decision, and one number then covers every member state (UCC art. 9(2), European Commission). If your first EU import is cleared in Germany, you apply to German customs.
A non-EU company cannot lodge its own declarations
The declarant must be established in the EU customs territory. A company outside the EU may declare only for transit, temporary admission or an occasional declaration that customs considers justified (UCC art. 170(2) and (3)). A non-EU company that imports into Germany on a regular basis therefore needs a customs representative established in the EU before its first shipment arrives.
Direct representation
The representative lodges the declaration in your name and for your account. It must be established in the EU customs territory (UCC art. 18).
Indirect representation
The representative lodges the declaration in its own name but for your account. The same establishment condition applies, and each member state, Germany included, sets the conditions for acting as a representative on its territory (UCC art. 18(1) to (3)).
Einfuhrumsatzsteuer is paid at customs
Germany has no reverse charge on imports. A deferral is the way to gain time.
German import VAT (Einfuhrumsatzsteuer, EUSt) is a consumption tax within the meaning of the Fiscal Code (Abgabenordnung), and customs law applies to it by analogy. The result: it is paid to customs, and there is no reverse charge or postponed accounting for it today (§21(1) and (2) UStG). Plan the cash for it on every shipment.
No guarantee if fully deductible
Payment of the EUSt can be deferred without providing a guarantee when the tax is fully deductible (§21(3) UStG). The waiver depends on your VAT position, so the VAT status set out below and the customs payment set-up have to be planned together.
The 26th of the second month
Where deferred payment has been granted under article 110(b) or (c) of the Union Customs Code, the EUSt falls due on the 26th of the second month that follows (§21(3a) UStG).
Offsetting in the VAT return: a request, not a law
On 10 September 2026, the conference of the Länder finance ministers asked the federal government for a model that would offset import VAT in the VAT return, with availability targeted for 1 January 2030 (Land NRW press release). It is a political request. No law has been adopted, so budget today for EUSt paid at customs or on the deferred due date.
Fiscal representative or your own VAT registration
Germany allows a Fiskalvertreter in one narrow case.
A fiscal representative (Fiskalvertreter) is possible only for a business with no seat or establishment in Germany that makes only VAT-exempt transactions there and has no input VAT to deduct. Outside that case, the foreign company registers for German VAT in its own name (§22a UStG).
Who can be the Fiskalvertreter
Tax advisers (§3 StBerG), and freight forwarders and other customs representatives authorised under the Tax Advisers Act (StBerG). Forwarders and customs representatives must be established in Germany. The appointment needs a power of attorney (§22a UStG).
Registering for VAT yourself
A company that makes taxable sales in Germany, or wants to deduct its EUSt, falls outside the Fiskalvertreter case and registers itself (§22a UStG). The official sources we read do not say which tax office handles a company from outside the EU or how long registration takes.
The two rules meet at the deferral. Waiving the guarantee needs import VAT that is fully deductible, while the Fiskalvertreter case assumes no input VAT to deduct (§21(3) UStG, §22a UStG). Have a German tax adviser check how both apply to your flows before the first shipment, not after the first customs bill.
The EU base under the German rules
The customs side is EU law: one EORI number per operator, a declarant established in the EU and a direct or indirect representative established there (UCC art. 9, 18 and 170). Import VAT deferral and fiscal representation are national options, which is why Germany's answers differ from other member states' (VAT Directive art. 204 and 211). Customs procedure 42, which exempts an import followed by a supply to another member state, needs, among other conditions, a VAT number of the importer or its fiscal representative in the member state of import (Directive 2009/69/EC). Alcohol, tobacco and energy products also carry excise duty, due on import unless the goods go straight under a suspension arrangement (Directive (EU) 2020/262). Our full comparison of import rules across Europe sets the countries side by side.
From first shipment to first payment
In the order a newcomer meets them. The deferred due date is the one fixed legal deadline.
Appoint a customs representative
Established in the EU, acting directly or indirectly. Agree in writing who lodges each German declaration.
Apply for the EORI number
Through the Zoll-Portal, required since 1 October 2026. No official processing time is published, so apply early.
Settle your VAT status
A Fiskalvertreter only in the exempt-only case. Otherwise your own German VAT registration.
Arrange deferred payment
Deferral under UCC article 110(b) or (c). No guarantee if the EUSt is fully deductible.
Import VAT to customs
Paid to customs unless deferred. There is no reverse charge.
Deferred EUSt falls due
For import VAT covered by a deferral under article 110(b) or (c).
What official sources do not settle
We did not find, on an official page, which tax office registers a company from outside the EU for German VAT or how long that takes, how German customs handles an EORI application from a company not established in the EU, or any processing time for the EORI number. The conditions Germany sets for customs representatives, its national rules on customs warehouses and the VAT treatment of goods stored there, and German excise rules for alcohol, tobacco and energy products are outside what we could verify. The status of the EU reforms of the customs code and of low-value consignments, and whether the offset model ever becomes law, are open too. Confirm these points with German customs (Zoll), the competent tax office or a licensed adviser before you rely on them.
What Balt Partners coordinates
One contact in Riga for the German side of your imports.
Import obligation map
EORI, customs representation, import VAT payment or deferral and your German VAT status, set out per flow of goods with the dates in one calendar.
VAT and deferral filings in Germany
For the German VAT registration, a Fiskalvertreter appointment where the narrow case applies, and the deferral file, we bring in a licensed adviser in Germany.
Customs representative brief
We help you choose a customs representative established in the EU and brief it on the goods, the flows and the payment set-up, so each German declaration starts from the same facts.
A Latvian SIA if you want an EU company
We form the Latvian company (SIA) with its bank account and accounting set-up. An EU company meets the establishment condition for declarants, but German import VAT is collected the same way, and it still has no seat in Germany for the Fiskalvertreter rule.
To compare Germany with other entry points, use our country-by-country import-export guide. If an EU company fits your plans, our page on setting up a Latvian subsidiary of a foreign company explains the company side.
Questions from non-EU importers about Germany
Yes. A company from outside the EU registers in the member state of its first customs operation. German EORI numbers are issued free of charge by the Generalzolldirektion in Dresden, and since 1 October 2026 the application goes through the Zoll-Portal.
Not if it imports regularly. The declarant must be established in the EU, apart from transit, temporary admission and occasional declarations that customs accepts as justified. The alternative is a customs representative established in the EU, acting directly or indirectly.
No. Import VAT (Einfuhrumsatzsteuer) is paid to customs. On 10 September 2026 the Länder finance ministers asked the federal government for a model that would offset it in the VAT return, with a target of 1 January 2030, but no law has been adopted.
With deferred payment granted under article 110(b) or (c) of the Union Customs Code, import VAT is due on the 26th of the second month that follows. No guarantee is required when the import VAT is fully deductible.
Only in a narrow case: a business with no seat or establishment in Germany that makes only exempt transactions there and has no input VAT to deduct. The representative is a tax adviser, or a freight forwarder or customs representative established in Germany, with a power of attorney. Otherwise the foreign company registers for German VAT itself.
German customs does not publish a processing time, and we found no official figure. Apply through the Zoll-Portal well before the first shipment and check the timing with the Generalzolldirektion.
No. An EU company meets the establishment condition for customs declarants, but Germany still collects import VAT at customs in the same way, and a company with no seat in Germany falls under the same fiscal representative rule.