European FBA import tariff and VAT interpretation

The seller of a lot of European station imports the duty that produces to his goods to Europe and value added tax, and what is the basis that custom imposes all sorts of import duty, how is the tax calculated to wait for these problems is not very clear, this article takes German station as an example, hope this article has enlightening to relevant seller and benefit.

According to relevant provisions of German customs law and value-added tax law, goods imported from non-eu countries to Germany are subject to import value added tax (Einfuhrungumsatzsteuer) in addition to duty (estest-satz).
Einfuhrungumsatzsteuer import duties include two items:
7-19% EUSt - Satz eu goods import VAT
0-17% Zollsatz customs duty
EUSt - Satz eu value added tax:
All goods except books and printed matter are subject to a levy of 19%. The tax on imports can be offset against 19% of the sales tax.
0-17% Zollsatz tariff:
The rate varies from 0% duty-free goods to 17% by category of imported goods. These taxes are paid as business expenses and cannot be offset against the 19% of the sales tax.
The tariff (Zoll) needs to be calculated first. The tariff rate. Like all eu countries, Germany follows the uniform tariff tariff, and determines the corresponding tariff rate according to the type of goods and the country of origin. In order to ensure the correct tariff rate, it is necessary to fill in the accurate eu customs code (EORI) when customs declaration. The tax base of tariff is not only the price of goods, but the price of goods plus shipping costs and insurance, which is generally the CIF CIF price of goods, which is called customs value (Zollwert).
The prices of goods is generally in accordance with the supplier to provide proforma invoice amount contained in the approved, but the proforma invoice amount compared to the actual price of the deflection (many companies usually choose false goods value), the German customs authorities shall have the right to according to the market price of the real customs value (in most cases, in the case of deviation is not too big to provide basic OK) procurement documents and paying the credentials. Shipping costs and insurance are generally the cost of goods from the country of origin to the European Union port on the bill of lading, if the goods are to enter the European Union by air, air logistics costs can not be included in the tariff base.

The amount of import value added tax (Einfuhrumsatzsteuer) can only be calculated after the declaration value and the tariff amount have been determined. The general rate of VAT in Germany is 19%, and a preferential rate of 7% applies to goods such as food and books. The tax base of import value added tax is the sum of the above declared value plus the tariff, plus the transportation cost within the eu.
According to the illustration on the official website of the German customs:
The goods are quoted at 10,000 euros ex factory
Sea freight and insurance 1,200 euros
Customs declaration value 10,000 euros 1,200 euros = 11,200 euros
Tariff rate 2%
Duty payable amount 11,200 eur x2%=224 eur
Freight within the eu is 300 euros
Import VAT base 11,200 euros 224 euros 300 euros = 11,724 euros
The VAT rate on imports is 19%
Import VAT payable amount 11,724 euros x19%= 2,227.56 euros
Total customs import taxes 2,227.56 euros 224 euros = 2,451.56 euros
If chinese-funded enterprises set up enterprises in Germany and the goods imported from China are sold in Germany, they must pay customs duties and import value-added tax in accordance with the above rules. Import value added tax can be regarded as input tax (Vorstauer), which can be deducted from the output tax of the enterprise. If there is a balance after deducting the output tax of the current period, the tax refund can be applied in the forecast of the current period.
Import to Germany to resell to other eu countries, whether to need to pay VAT, then you need to see the specific sales object, if sales object is other eu countries, in general, the seller does not need to pay VAT again, but to remind the buyer of the enterprise, by the country to declare VAT; If the sale is to an individual consumer in another eu country, the seller will normally have to pay VAT in Germany as usual.