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Apply for individual vehicle taxation
If you purchase a new vehicle in another EU country, bring it to Germany and register it here, this transaction is subject to German VAT.
The tax term for this is vehicle individual taxation.
Responsible department
The tax office in whose district you are resident.
Details
Prerequisite
When purchasing a new motor vehicle, the so-called country of destination principle applies within the European internal market. This means that turnover tax is levied in the EU Member State in which the buyer is resident. This is to avoid distortions of competition that could otherwise arise due to the different VAT rates in the individual EU member states.
The sale in the other EU state is VAT-free, i.e. the seller does not charge you any foreign VAT. It does not matter whether you bring the vehicle to Germany yourself or whether the seller delivers it to you here.
Individual vehicle taxation applies in particular to
- Private individuals,
- Companies (with the exception of legal entities) that purchase the vehicle for non-business purposes,
- non-business associations of persons.
Which vehicles are covered by the scheme?
The acquisition of new motorised land vehicles with a cylinder capacity of more than 48 cc or a power output of more than 7.2 kW is subject to individual vehicle taxation. This includes, for example, passenger cars, motorbikes and motor scooters.
According to the VAT definition, a motorised land vehicle is considered new if
- it has not travelled more than 6,000 km, or
- it has not been put into service for the first time for more than six months at the time of purchase.
Procedure
You must declare the purchase and pay the VAT to the tax office responsible for you within 10 days of purchasing the vehicle. Since this is a legal obligation, you will not receive a separate request from the tax office.
Please also enclose a copy of the invoice for the vehicle purchase with your tax return.
VAT is calculated on the basis of the purchase price that was invoiced to you. Incidental costs (e.g. special equipment, transfer costs) charged to you by the seller or a third party company (e.g. forwarding agent) must also be included. You apply the general VAT rate of 19 % to this amount. If the euro is not the national currency in the country of sale, you must carry out a conversion into euros according to the daily exchange rate on the day of purchase.
Deadlines
Within 10 days after the purchase of the vehicle.
Required documents
Tax return and copy of invoice.
Costs
None
Miscellaneous
Please note that the vehicle registration offices are obliged to notify the competent tax office of the first issue of registration papers.
Release note
26.07.2023 Oberfinanzdirektion Karlsruhe als Vertreterin des Finanzministeriums Baden-Württemberg