DHL Europe

Tax free shopping

As a traveler from a non-EU member state, you can make purchases in Germany free of VAT.

How does tax-free shopping work in practice?

Even if you claim the tax exemption, you pay the full purchase price including VAT for the time being. We will refund the sales tax as soon as we have the proof stamped by customs that the goods have been exported properly.

The form Export and Purchaser Certificate for VAT purposes for exports in non-commercial travel (§ 6 para. 3a UStG) serves as proof of export. You can find the form on the German customs website (Link).

Important! -> Please always specify your place of residence in a non-EU member state as the billing address when ordering. 

You can get more information directly on the website of the German Customs (Link).

² The above costs already include the customs duties of the German customs. For deliveries to non-European countries, we will deduct the German VAT. The VAT of the destination country will be charged to you by customs when the package is handed over, and additional customs duties and fees of your country will also apply. You can find more information for example at http://ec.europa.eu/ and especially for Switzerland at http://xtares.admin.ch/tares/.

³What are the customs regulations in Switzerland for private individuals in postal traffic?

Goods purchased from us are subject to customs duties and VAT when imported into Switzerland. The amounts due will be collected by Swiss Post upon delivery of the shipment.

You can find more details on the website of the Swiss Federal Customs Administration.

Import tax (VAT) and de minimis: Items purchased from Markenkoffer.de are subject to import tax. However, this is only charged if the tax amount is at least 5 SFr (de minimis limit). The current tax rates can be found on the websites of the Swiss Federal Tax Administration.

Postal remittance tax: As soon as the tax amount exceeds 5.00 SFr, a taxable shipment is created. In these cases, a handling fee of the Swiss Post, the so-called "Postvorweisungstaxe", is added to the import duties.

As of October 1, 2008, a fee of 18.00 SFr will be charged for simplified customs clearance for tax amounts up to 500.00 SFr and a fee of 35.00 SFr will be charged for ordinary customs clearance for tax amounts over 500.00 SFr.

This postal remittance tax is also subject to VAT. It is usually charged per parcel.