If you belong to one of the following groups of persons under excise law, you need a permit to handle the untaxed tobacco products:

"Tax Warehouse Operator": you operate a tax warehouse for untaxed tobacco products. A tax warehouse is a place approved by the main customs office where tobacco products may be manufactured, handled, processed or stored under tax suspension. Please also note: If you only want to store tobacco products in the tax warehouse, but not manufacture them, you must be entitled to receive tax stamps or only hand over untaxed tobacco products. You must purchase tax stamps from the main customs office in Bielefeld, affix them with a corresponding cancellation mark and attach them to the packaging of tobacco products.

• In the tax warehouse is not considered as production:
  • the packaging of tobacco products
  • the marking of packages
  • affixing tax stamps
  • the tearing open of cigarettes, cigars or cigarillos
  • the finishing of cigars or cigarillos by pressing, sorting, powdering, ringing, wrapping and the like
  • the blending, flavouring and pressing of smoking tobacco.
• In the so-called "tax suspension procedure", you can send and receive tobacco products tax-free under certain conditions.

"registered consignee": you receive tobacco goods with German tax stamps. The tobacco products are transported under suspension of tobacco tax. Consignor is a tax warehouse keeper or a registered consignor in another Member State.

"registered consignor": after an importation, you dispatch tobacco products for which tobacco tax is suspended from the place of importation to authorised consignees in Germany or in other countries of the European Union (for example, to a tax warehouse).

"User": you use tobacco products tax-free outside the tax warehouse, for example

• for commercial purposes, other than smoking and manufacturing tobacco products.
• for scientific purposes, for example for experimental purposes.

Note: In principle, transports are only considered to be carried out under duty suspension if they are carried out using the electronic administrative document (e-VD) in the IT procedure EMCS (Excise Movement and Control System).

You need written permission from the main customs office responsible for you. Permission is granted on application (officially prescribed form) subject to revocation.

Before granting permission, the tax authorities generally check whether certain requirements have been met, for example with regard to tax reliability, bookkeeping and the technical equipment in your business. The examination may relate to you personally, for example as managing director, or to other persons in your business who are relevant for tax purposes.

The main customs office can demand a security deposit from you.