German import VAT: when do you get it back?
Once you hold a German VAT registration, the import VAT (Einfuhrumsatzsteuer) you pay as importer of record is recovered as input VAT (Vorsteuer) through your ongoing monthly VAT return (UStVA). Import VAT paid on shipments that landed before you were registered is not recoverable, and there is no refund to pursue on them.
Registration first, then the import VAT comes back.
The painful half: import VAT you paid before you held a German VAT registration cannot be deducted through a German VAT return, and there is no refund to pursue on those past imports. The forward-looking half: from the registration onwards, import VAT on future imports is deductible in the normal way, as input VAT (Vorsteuer) on your monthly VAT return (UStVA). That is the whole argument for registering before the first shipment lands rather than after it. A specific situation still needs individual review.
Reviewed July 2026 by a licensed German tax advisor. General information only, not an assessment of any specific company.
What happens to import VAT you paid before you were registered?
It is not recoverable, and that is the part worth knowing before anything else. Import VAT (Einfuhrumsatzsteuer) is deducted as input VAT (Vorsteuer) through a German VAT return, so the deduction needs a German VAT registration to run through. Where the goods entered Germany at a point when no German VAT registration was in place for your company, that import VAT cannot be deducted through a German VAT return, and there is no separate refund to pursue on those past imports. On shipments that have already landed it is a real cost. The forward-looking half is genuinely better news, and it is the half you can still act on: from the registration onwards, import VAT on future imports is deductible in the normal way. Which is the whole argument for getting the German VAT registration in place before the first shipment lands, rather than after the first bill from the freight forwarder.
Import VAT paid before you held a German VAT registration is not recoverable. From the registration onwards, import VAT on future imports is deductible in the normal way. So the registration belongs before the first shipment, not after it.
Reviewed July 2026 by a licensed German tax advisorHow do you reclaim German import VAT once you are registered?
Through your ongoing filings, in the normal way. Import VAT you pay as the importer of record, once you hold a German VAT registration, is recovered as input VAT (Vorsteuer) through your monthly VAT return (UStVA). It sits in the same place as the VAT you were charged on a domestic purchase: on the input side of the return, netting off against the VAT you owe on your German sales. For a registered business the import VAT is therefore usually a timing question rather than a final cost, because the money goes out at the border and comes back through the return for that period. Nothing separate has to be applied for, and there is no distinct refund procedure to run alongside the return. The one condition worth repeating is the one from the section above: the registration has to have been in place when the goods came in.
Does Germany have postponed import VAT accounting?
No, and this is where Germany is genuinely harder than the Netherlands. Germany does not have full postponed import-VAT accounting of the kind the Dutch system offers, where the import VAT is declared and deducted in the same return and never has to be paid out at the border at all. What Germany has instead is a customs deferment account (Aufschubkonto), arranged through customs or through your freight forwarder. The deferment account lets you defer paying the import VAT rather than settling it shipment by shipment. You then still reclaim it as input VAT (Vorsteuer) on your return, exactly as described above. Be precise with yourself about what that means for cash: it is a deferral of the payment, not a cash-flow-free import. The money still leaves the business, later and in one consolidated movement instead of per consignment, and it comes back through the return.
- What the deferment account does: lets you defer paying the import VAT rather than settling it shipment by shipment.
- What it does not do: it does not remove the payment. Germany has no full postponed accounting of the Dutch kind.
- Who arranges it: customs, or your freight forwarder. It is not something we set up.
- The reclaim is unchanged: the import VAT still comes back as input VAT (Vorsteuer) on your German VAT return.
Are goods arriving from another EU country an import?
No, and telling the two apart is the first thing to get straight, because only one of them involves import VAT at all. An import happens when goods enter Germany from outside the EU, and that entry is the event that triggers import VAT (Einfuhrumsatzsteuer) at the border along with the customs formalities. Goods moving into Germany from another EU member state are not an import. That movement is an intra-community acquisition, it goes through your German VAT return under its own boxes, and no import VAT arises on it. A seller shipping from a warehouse in the Netherlands, Poland or Czechia into a German fulfilment centre is in the second situation and not the first, however similar the freight looks. Where the goods travel EU to EU, our page on consignment stock in Germany covers the rules that do apply instead.
| Your situation | Recoverable? | How |
|---|---|---|
| Goods imported before your German VAT registration existed Shipment landed while you had no German registration |
No | There is no German VAT return to deduct it through for that period, and no separate refund to pursue on those past imports. It is a cost on shipments that have already landed. |
| Goods imported after your German VAT registration is in place You are named as importer of record |
Yes | Deducted as input VAT (Vorsteuer) on your monthly VAT return (UStVA) for the period, netting off against the VAT due on your German sales. Keep the customs documents (Zollpapiere) on file. |
| Goods arriving from another EU member state For example NL, PL or CZ into a German warehouse |
No import VAT arises | Not an import. It is an intra-community acquisition, reported through your German VAT return under its own boxes. See consignment stock in Germany for the EU to EU rules. |
The table sorts the common cases. It is not a verdict on any particular shipment, and where your own facts sit between two rows, have the situation reviewed individually.
Which import documents do you need to keep?
The customs and import documents, on file, per consignment. Keep your customs and import documents (Zollpapiere), because they are what supports the deduction: the import VAT you put on the input side of your German VAT return has to be backed by paperwork showing that the import happened and that the import VAT was paid. Freight forwarders and customs brokers produce that paperwork as a matter of course, so this is usually a question of filing discipline rather than a chase. Ask for the documents at the time of each shipment instead of at the end of the year, keep them per consignment, and keep them somewhere you can produce them from later. If the tax office (Finanzamt) comes back with a question about an input VAT figure on a return, those documents are the answer, and reconstructing them months afterwards out of a forwarder's archive is slower than saving them once.
Does Vaytax handle the customs side?
No. We do German VAT: the registration where you need one, the monthly VAT returns (UStVA) that the import VAT is reclaimed on, the annual return (Jahreserklärung), and the correspondence with the tax office (Finanzamt) that goes with them. We do not do customs clearance, we do not give customs advice, and we do not arrange the customs deferment account (Aufschubkonto). That account is set up through customs or through your freight forwarder, and classification, duty and clearance belong with your customs broker. Those are a separate trade with separate qualifications, and we are not in it. This page will find people looking for exactly that help, so it is worth saying plainly rather than burying in a footnote. What we do own is the return the import VAT comes back through, and the registration that has to exist before it can.
If you already have a German tax number (Steuernummer), the filing plan is €89 per month or €990 per year and covers your monthly and annual returns. If you still need the registration itself, the all-in plan is €1,299 per year, charged in full at signup, covering the German VAT registration plus every filing for the year. Both are on our pricing page. You still do your part each period: you enter your figures or upload your report, and we prepare the return, review it and file it with the tax office (Finanzamt). Our page on importing into Germany covers the EORI number and the importer-of-record question that sit alongside this one.
This page states the general position on German import VAT and nothing more. It is general information rather than an assessment of your shipments, your customs status or your contracts, and a specific situation needs individual review.
If a German letter has already arrived
Goods that entered Germany before anyone registered usually surface as a letter rather than as a question. If you are holding a German letter you cannot read, our Finanzamt letter reader tells you what it says and what the deadline is, free, before you decide anything.
Get registered, then the import VAT comes back.
Vaytax runs German VAT for foreign companies: the registration where you need one, the monthly and annual returns your import VAT is reclaimed on, and the Finanzamt correspondence that goes with them. €1,299 per year all-in including the German registration, or €89 per month if you already have a Steuernummer. Customs clearance and customs advice are not part of the service.
Start the registration Licensed German tax advisor · English throughout · No calls requiredAsked about German import VAT
No. Import VAT (Einfuhrumsatzsteuer) is deducted as input VAT (Vorsteuer) through a German VAT return, so without a German VAT registration in place at the time of the import there is nothing to deduct it through, and there is no separate refund to pursue on those past imports. From the registration onwards, import VAT on future imports is deductible in the normal way.
Through your ongoing filings. Import VAT you pay as importer of record, once you hold a German VAT registration, is recovered as input VAT (Vorsteuer) on your monthly VAT return (UStVA), where it nets off against the VAT you owe on your sales. There is no separate refund procedure to run alongside the return.
No. Germany does not have full postponed import-VAT accounting of the kind the Netherlands has. What exists is a customs deferment account (Aufschubkonto), arranged through customs or your freight forwarder, which lets you defer paying the import VAT rather than settling it shipment by shipment. You then still reclaim it as input VAT on your return. It is a deferral of payment, not a cash-flow-free import.
No. An import happens when goods enter Germany from outside the EU, and that is what triggers import VAT at the border. Goods moving into Germany from another EU member state are not an import: that is an intra-community acquisition, reported through your German VAT return under its own boxes, with no import VAT arising.
Keep your customs and import documents (Zollpapiere) on file, per consignment, because they support the deduction. The import VAT you put on the input side of your German VAT return has to be backed by the paperwork showing that the import happened and that the import VAT was paid.
No. We do German VAT: the registration where you need one, the monthly VAT returns (UStVA) the import VAT is reclaimed on, the annual return (Jahreserklärung) and the Finanzamt correspondence that goes with them. Customs clearance, customs advice and the customs deferment account (Aufschubkonto) are not part of the service: the deferment account is arranged through customs or your freight forwarder.
Sources & official references
- § 15 UStG: Vorsteuerabzug (input VAT deduction)
- Umsatzsteuergesetz (UStG), full text
- Zoll: German customs authority (imports, deferment)
General information on German import VAT, current as of July 2026. Reviewed July 2026 by a licensed German tax advisor. Not individual tax advice and not an assessment of any specific shipment or structure: a specific situation needs individual review. Vaytax handles German VAT registration and filings, not customs clearance or customs advice.