Import turnover tax / value added tax Helgoland
August 6, 2011 | 30,00 EUR | answered by Oliver Burchardt
Hello,
The island of Heligoland is exempt from VAT.
Assuming one operates an online mail order business on the island of Heligoland and has both their residence and business premises there. For the online trade, goods are imported from China to Heligoland, do customs duties and import VAT apply here?
After the goods arrive in Heligoland, they are to be forwarded to mainland Germany to a shipping fulfillment company, which will take care of packaging and shipping the goods to end customers in Germany and Austria. Will customs duties and import VAT apply again for this export?
This would be a double taxation on the same goods, or how does this work?
Thank you!
Dear inquirer,
Thank you for your inquiry, which I would be happy to answer as part of an initial consultation.
The island of Heligoland is not exempt from value-added tax, but rather it is not covered by the scope of the German Value Added Tax Act. This distinction is important, as Heligoland is therefore considered a third country for VAT purposes in relation to the rest of the Federal Republic. Heligoland is also not considered part of the German customs territory, making the island a third country in this respect as well.
From a VAT perspective, you only perform a taxable supply when you move goods from Heligoland into the rest of the Federal territory, subject to import VAT. Importing goods to Heligoland itself does not trigger any VAT obligation.
The same applies in terms of customs law.
In answering your question, I have assumed that the flow of goods can be ensured, and that there is no import into the EU between the export from China and the import into Heligoland (e.g. by transshipment of goods only in free ports).
Best regards,
Oliver Burchardt
Tax advisor
