Coffee Tax Act (Germany)

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Basic data
Title: Coffee Tax Act
Abbreviation: Coffee Tax Act
Type: Federal law
Scope: Federal Republic of Germany
Legal matter: Tax law
References : 612-15-3
Original version from: July 30, 1953
( BGBl. I p. 708 )
Entry into force on: August 24, 1953
Last revision from: July 15, 2009
( Federal Law Gazette I, p. 1870, 1919 )
Entry into force of the
new version on: 		July 22, 2009
and April 1, 2010
Last change by: Art. 203 VO of June 19, 2020
( Federal Law Gazette I p. 1328, 1352 )
Effective date of the
last change: 		June 27, 2020
(Art. 361 of June 19, 2020)
Please note the note on the applicable legal version.

The Coffee Tax Act regulates the collection of the coffee tax.

taxation

The coffee tax is a consumption tax , the income from the coffee tax is due to the federal government ( federal tax ). Be taxed coffee as well as in the control region spent coffee containing goods. The aim of taxation is to raise income to finance government spending.

The coffee tax for roasted coffee is 2.19 euros per kilogram and for instant coffee 4.78 euros per kilogram. Mixtures of roasted coffee and soluble coffee are subject to a tax rate based on the types of coffee they contain. In the years 2006 to 2017, the tax revenue nationwide was around 1 billion euros.

Tax origin

Commercial

The tax arises through

  • Removal of the goods from the tax warehouse without being followed by a further tax exemption (Section 11 (2) No. 1 Coffee Tax Act). This is the normal case for production in Germany.
  • Production without a storage permit (Section 11 (2) No. 2 Coffee Tax Act). Everyone has the right to make roasted coffee without the permission of the tax authorities. In contrast to production in the tax warehouse, the tax arises immediately. “Production without permission” does not mean anything that is prohibited. This option is mainly used by companies that rarely roast.
  • Import from third countries (Section 15 of the Coffee Tax Act). The tax arises on import .
  • Purchase from other member states of the European Union (§ 17 Coffee Tax Act). The tax arises when the coffee is brought into the tax area.

Private individuals

The tax arises through

  • Import from third countries (Section 15 of the Coffee Tax Act). The tax arises on importation unless the coffee remains duty-free as a souvenir. The general value limit for travelers in commercial air and sea transport is 430 euros, for other types of travelers (e.g. cars) 300 euros and for people under 15 (regardless of the means of travel) 175 euros per person.
  • Purchase from other member states of the European Union (§ 17 Coffee Tax Act). This is basically tax-free if the traveler transports the coffee in their own luggage. Section 23 of the Coffee Tax Ordinance specifies a guideline amount of 10 kg, from which it is rebuttably presumed that the coffee is used for commercial purposes (reversal of the burden of proof). The presumption can be refuted if a comprehensible reason for greater consumption is given - e.g. B. a larger family celebration or regular private meetings.
  • Mail order from other member states of the EU (§ 17 Coffee Tax Act). Here, the tax always arises without an exemption limit, since the sender acts commercially. The mail order company is therefore liable for tax. However, the recipient becomes liable .

Production in private households

Production in your own household for your own consumption is tax-free.

Mail order until 2010

Until 2010, the recipients of the mail order business were liable for tax. In many such cases (e.g. Senseo pads), customs initiated criminal proceedings in 2007/08. Criminal proceedings against small consumers who had purchased coffee from other EU countries via the Internet generated approx. 25,000 euros in subsequent tax revenue (0.01–10 € / transaction) - with customs personnel costs of 800,000 euros (from: Comments of the Federal Court of Auditors 2009).

In November 2006, several hundred cases were investigated by German customs officials for tax evasion against German customers who had bought coffee in the Netherlands on eBay.

history

The coffee tax arose as a result of the sharp increase in coffee consumption in the 17th century. The unsuccessful coffee monopoly in Prussia (1781–1787) was replaced by an import duty on coffee. This was the most common form of coffee tax for a long time. In the German Customs Union , the coffee tariffs were significantly reduced between 1853 and 1860 and assigned to the Reich in 1871 . There were significant increases, among other things, in the course of the financial reform from 1909. After the currency reform , a new setting of the coffee tariff failed. By law on June 22, 1948, the coffee tax was introduced as a consumption tax for the United Economic Area , and in 1949 also in West Berlin. In the Basic Law, the new tax was assigned to the federal government.

Until 1953, the coffee tax was so high (most recently 10 DM / kg) that there was a lucrative coffee smuggling , especially on the German western border, the so-called Aachen Coffee Front . After the coffee tax was lowered to 3 DM / kg or 4 DM / kg, consumption rose sharply (favored by the economic miracle ); As early as 1954, the total income from the coffee tax was higher than before 1953. Arthur Darboven in particular had campaigned for the lowering of the coffee tax.

Coffee tax is only levied in Europe in Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Lithuania, Norway and Switzerland. Greece also introduced a coffee tax in 2016.

From 2011 to 2013 the coffee roaster Darboven lobbied against the collection of the coffee tax. In mid-April 2012 it had over 20,000 supporters. In February 2013 the petition to abolish the coffee tax was finally rejected by the responsible committee of the German Bundestag.

On January 24, 2019, the European Commission asked Germany to abolish import restrictions for coffee. The German Coffee Tax Act (KaffeeStG) contrary to its provisions for mail order against EU rules on the free movement of goods . According to the rules for infringement proceedings of the European Union, Germany had until the end of March 2019 to react. The Federal Government's statement was not made public; the course of the proceedings is still open.

literature

  • Frank Pergande : Saint Mocha. Why has coffee been taxed in Germany for centuries ?, in: FAS No. 1, January 8, 2017, p. 7.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cash-based tax income by type of tax in the calendar years 2006 - 2009. (PDF; 11 kB) In: https://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de/ . Federal Ministry of Finance, May 24, 2012, accessed on October 8, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Cash tax revenue by tax type in the calendar years 2010 - 2013. (PDF; 81 kB) Tax revenue by tax type in the years 2014 - 2017. In: https://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de/ . Federal Ministry of Finance, August 28, 2018, accessed on October 8, 2018 .
  3. ↑ https://www.zoll.de/DE/Privathaben/Reisen/Rueckkehr-aus-einem-Nicht-EU-Staat/Zoll-und-Steuern/Reisefreimengen/reisefreimengen_node.html return from a non-EU country on www .zoll.de
  4. ↑ https://www.zoll.de/DE/Privathaben/Reisen/Reisen-innerhalb-der-EU/Steuern/Genussmittel/genussmittel_node.html Travel within the EU at www.zoll.de
  5. ↑ https://www.zoll.de/DE/Privathaben/Alkohol-Kaffee-Kraftstoffe-Strom-im-Haushalt/Brauen-Brennen-Roesten/Kaffee/kaffee_node.html Production in private households at www.zoll.de
  6. ↑ Oliver Haustein-Tessmer: Hundreds of Ebay users present themselves to welt-online, November 22, 2006.
  7. ↑ Coffee tax. (No longer available online.) Federal Ministry of Finance, archived from the original on March 18, 2012 ; Retrieved September 26, 2011 .
  8. ↑ FAS, January 8, 2017, p. 7.
  9. ↑ PDF (2011)
  10. ↑ greece.net
  11. ↑ Darboven's lobbying work against the coffee tax
  12. ↑ EU demands that Germany abolish import restrictions on coffee

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