Is German import VAT a real cost?

Not for a VAT-registered business. It is charged at 19% on the customs value plus duty plus carriage to the first German destination, then deducted as input tax on the advance VAT return. With a deferral account it is not due until the 26th of the second month after import.

Can I import into Germany without a company in the EU?

Only occasionally — German customs treats fewer than 10 declarations a year as occasional. For regular imports an EU-established indirect customs representative declares in its own name for your account.

Does the label have to be in German?

Yes. The fibre composition must be labelled in German under the Textile Labelling Act. Care symbols are not legally required.

Is there still a €150 duty-free threshold?

No. The duty exemption for consignments up to €150 ended on 1 July 2026; low-value parcels now pay a flat €3 per goods category. It matters for direct-to-consumer parcels, not for a bulk order, which pays the normal rate.

Landed cost — Germany

Importing Custom Apparel Into Germany: Duty, VAT and Labelling

Khaleeq Ur RehmanPublished 23 September 2026

The duty on garments entering Germany is set in Brussels and is the same as anywhere in the EU. What changes at the German border is everything around it: how import VAT is paid and recovered, what the label must say, and who is allowed to be the importer.

Duty is the EU’s: 0% under GSP+ with valid proof of origin, 12% without. The German parts are 19% import VAT — payable later on a deferral account and reclaimable — a fibre label in German, and an importer established in the EU.

The short version

Cotton knitwear from Pakistan enters at 0% under GSP+ with valid proof of origin; the third-country rate is 12% (TARIC 6110 20 91).
Import VAT is 19%, charged on the customs value plus duty plus transport to the first destination in Germany.
On a customs deferral account import VAT is due on the 26th of the second month after import, and a VAT-registered business deducts it on its advance VAT return.
Fibre composition must be labelled in German under the Textile Labelling Act.
Customs declarations need an EORI number; from 1 October 2026 applications go only through the Zoll-Portal.
An importer established outside the EU may declare only occasionally — German customs treats fewer than 10 declarations a year as occasional. Otherwise an EU-established indirect customs representative declares for you.

Checked against the official sources linked below on 23 September 2026. Duty and tax law changes — we re-check before every quote rather than publishing a number and letting it go stale. Verify your own commodity code before you commit to a price: TARIC — look up your commodity code

Import VAT, and when it is actually paid

Germany charges import VAT at the standard 19%; clothing is not among the goods that qualify for the reduced 7% rate. It is calculated on the customs value plus the duty plus the cost of carriage from the EU border to the first destination in Germany.

It rarely has to leave your account on landing day. With a customs payment deferral, import VAT falls due on the 26th of the second calendar month after the import. And a business registered for VAT deducts it as input tax on its advance return, using the customs notice as evidence — so for a registered buyer it is timing, not cost.

Source: UStG §12 — tax rates (gesetze-im-internet.de)Zoll — import VAT tax base (Bemessungsgrundlage)UStG §21(3a) — due date under a payment deferral UStG §15 — deduction of import VAT as input tax

Who can be the importer of record

To release goods into free circulation the declarant must, as a rule, be established in the EU. German customs allows an exception only for occasional declarations — which it treats as fewer than ten a year. A brand shipping regularly uses an EU-established indirect customs representative who declares in its own name for your account.

Every declarant needs an EORI number. Applications are free; from 1 October 2026 they are accepted only through the Zoll-Portal. A VAT fiscal representative is not a way round this: German law allows one only for businesses making exclusively tax-exempt supplies, which a brand reselling garments is not.

Source: Zoll — customs declaration: who may declare Zoll — representation in customs matters Zoll — EORI number UStG §22a — fiscal representation

What the label must carry

EU law requires every textile product to carry its fibre composition, and German law requires that label to be in German. Care symbols are not legally required. Because the manufacturer is outside the EU, the importer takes on the manufacturer’s labelling obligations.

Since 13 December 2024 a consumer product may be placed on the EU market only if an EU-established economic operator is responsible for it, with that operator’s name, postal address and electronic address on the product, its packaging or an accompanying document. For most brands that operator is the brand itself or its importer. We sew the composition label in German to your spec.

Source: Textilkennzeichnungsgesetz §4 — labelling in German EUR-Lex — Regulation (EU) 1007/2011 on textile fibre names and labelling EUR-Lex — Commission guidelines on the General Product Safety Regulation (C/2025/6233)

Where Pakistan stands in Germany’s market

Germany imported US$911 million of knitted apparel from Pakistan in 2025, up from US$770 million in 2024 — making Pakistan its seventh-largest supplier with 3.6% of the market, behind China, Bangladesh and Türkiye. Germany is the second-largest EU destination for Pakistani knitwear.

Source: UN Comtrade — Germany imports of HS 61 from Pakistan, 2025

Why we quote DDP

On this route the duty is usually zero and the 19% VAT is recoverable, so what decides your landed cost is paperwork: valid proof of origin for the 0%, and a declarant who can clear the goods. Itemising both on the quote is how you see they were handled.

That is what DDP means: freight, duty, tax and carrier fees paid before the parcel lands, each itemised on your quote. Ask every supplier you compare to itemise the same three lines — if one will not, that is your answer about which number is real.

Questions we get asked about Germany

Is German import VAT a real cost?: Not for a VAT-registered business. It is charged at 19% on the customs value plus duty plus carriage to the first German destination, then deducted as input tax on the advance VAT return. With a deferral account it is not due until the 26th of the second month after import.
Can I import into Germany without a company in the EU?: Only occasionally — German customs treats fewer than 10 declarations a year as occasional. For regular imports an EU-established indirect customs representative declares in its own name for your account.
Does the label have to be in German?: Yes. The fibre composition must be labelled in German under the Textile Labelling Act. Care symbols are not legally required.
Is there still a €150 duty-free threshold?: No. The duty exemption for consignments up to €150 ended on 1 July 2026; low-value parcels now pay a flat €3 per goods category. It matters for direct-to-consumer parcels, not for a bulk order, which pays the normal rate.

The other markets we ship to

Duty is set by the destination, so the same garment lands at a different cost in each of these. The overview of how the four compare is in what duty actually costs.

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