Notify intra-Community acquisition of a new vehicle

If you have purchased a new vehicle in another EU member state and you are a national of

• of a foreign mission or
• a consular mission, you must notify the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) of the purchase and pay VAT.

You must report the so-called individual vehicle taxation separately for each newly purchased vehicle.

The following groups must notify the BZSt of individual vehicle taxation:

• Private individuals
• Companies that do not use these vehicles for business purposes
• Non-business associations of persons

Foreign permanent diplomatic missions and professional consular posts and their members can be exempted from taxation on the intra-Community acquisition of new vehicles under certain conditions.

The general tax rate of 19% of the purchase value applies for the calculation of individual vehicle taxation. If you do not calculate the tax correctly or do not submit a tax return, the BZSt will estimate the tax.

The following are affected by sales tax

• Motorized land vehicles with an engine capacity of more than 48 cm³ or a power output of more than 7.2 kilowatts; for example, cars, trucks, motorcycles, mopeds, scooters.
• Watercraft with a length of more than 7.5 meters.
• Aircraft with a maximum take-off mass of more than 1550 kilograms.

A vehicle is considered new if the

• land vehicle has not covered more than 6000 kilometers or if it was first put into operation no more than 6 months ago at the time of purchase.
• A watercraft has not completed more than 100 hours of operation on water or if it was first put into service no more than 3 months ago at the time of purchase.
• Aircraft has not been used for more than 40 operating hours or if it was first put into service no more than 3 months ago at the time of purchase.