First, a little background story. Before leaving the US, Andy and I sent ourselves a package of books. Not anything special, just some random, used textbooks that we thought would be useful to have over here. Well, last Tuesday, we got a letter from Deutsch Post saying that our package had arrived, but was being held by customs. Okee dokee.
So, this morning, we went to the DP customs office (about a 20 minute drive) and picked up our package. This process consisted of us opening the package, the man glancing at it, and us leaving with it. While we were there, we asked him why it was held. To which he replied that he didn't know what was in the package, and it could have been commercial goods (which would be taxable). The funny thing is, we did write that the package was full of books, but Deutsch Post put their sticker over our writing, so that's why the contents were a "mystery".
Anyway, since our package took three weeks to arrive instead of one, and we had to hassle with getting a ride to the post office, we have started doing some research on the best way for family and friends to send us packages from the US. As it turns out, you are allowed to receive gifts from one individual to another, as long as the value is less than 45 Euros. Random. Over that amount, we have to pay taxes on the package when we pick it up from DP. I actually managed to find the German customs website, which lists exactly what the tariff rate is for goods valued at more than that. Here is a selected sampling:
GPS Equipment: 3.7%
Golf Clubs: 2.7%
Tennis Rackets: 4.7%
Leather shoes: 8%
Non-leather shoes: 17%
Ornaments made of
- wood: free
- metal: free
- plastic: 6.5%
Seriously, what's with the excess tariff on the plastic ornaments? I mean, when are plastic ornaments gonna get a break??
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