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Buying in Germany: the export declaration (ABD, MRN) and the German VAT

A German dealer can sell a car without the 19% German VAT when the car is exported from the EU and the dealer can prove it; if you collect the car yourself, or a carrier you hire collects it, you must also live outside Germany. The export is declared to German customs, the ABD with its MRN is printed after release, and the last EU customs office confirms the exit electronically: in Hungary or Croatia for Serbia, in Croatia for BiH. Margin-scheme invoices and private sellers show no VAT to refund.

When a car is sold without German VAT

An export sale is exempt from German VAT (UStG § 4 no. 1a and § 6). The dealer must prove the export, so the VAT is settled with the dealer, not with customs or a tax office.

If you collect the car yourself, or a carrier you hire collects it, you must live outside Germany, whatever your citizenship. Guest workers and students living in Germany as a rule do not qualify until they finally leave. Someone moving back home qualifies only once they have left Germany, and the handover date counts, not the contract date.

If the dealer itself transports or ships the car out of the EU, your residence does not matter.

Margin scheme and private sellers

A margin-scheme invoice (Differenzbesteuerung, UStG § 25a) says "Gebrauchtgegenstände/Sonderregelung" and shows no VAT, so there is nothing to refund. The dealer owes no VAT on its margin for an exported car, so any discount is a matter of negotiation.

A private seller charges no VAT, since VAT applies only to sales by a business.

An ad marked "MwSt. ausweisbar" is for a car whose VAT the dealer can show on the invoice; there the net price is the gross price divided by 1.19.

The deposit is a contract term

In principle, a dealer that cannot prove the export fully and in good time owes the VAT, which is likely why dealers charge the gross price, or a deposit equal to the VAT, until the proof arrives. The deposit is a contract term, not a legal rule, so agree in writing before you pay:

  • the net price and any deposit;
  • who files the export declaration and applies for the EUR.1;
  • which proof the dealer needs, and when and how it refunds the deposit.

Who files the export declaration

Every car export needs an export declaration (Ausfuhranmeldung), filed electronically in German customs' ATLAS system or through its IAA-Plus online service. Only a car worth up to 1,000 euros and weighing up to 1,000 kg may be declared orally.

The dealer, an EU-based agent you appoint (a forwarder or customs declarant) or you yourself can file it. Filing through IAA-Plus needs a Zoll-Portal account and an EORI number, usually issued in three to four weeks. From 1 October 2026 EORI applications go through the Zoll-Portal, with a paper form, justified in writing, for non-EU applicants without portal access. Whether residents of Serbia or BiH can then use IAA-Plus is not confirmed; for most buyers a dealer or agent is simpler.

German customs charge in principle nothing for the export declaration or the EUR.1 (see the EUR.1 guide). What a dealer or an agent charges for the paperwork is their own price, for which no price list was found, so ask for it in writing; the calculator's €150 for the dealer and €100 for an agent are estimates.

The ABD, the MRN and the exit from the EU

After the car is presented at the export customs office and released, the declarant prints the export accompanying document (Ausfuhrbegleitdokument, ABD), with the MRN as a barcode. Carry it: Germany no longer asks for it at the exit, but other EU countries may.

The car leaves the EU only at the last EU border:

  • to Serbia, at the Hungarian-Serbian border (the M5 at Röszke, opposite Horgoš) or the Croatian-Serbian border (the A3 at Lipovac);
  • to BiH, at the Croatian-BiH border, for example Stara Gradiška.

The exit office calls up the declaration by MRN, may inspect the car and confirms the exit electronically, without stamping the ABD. Into Serbia the transit may instead start in Germany, because Serbia has applied common transit since 1 February 2016; the German office of departure then confirms the export instead of the exit office (UStDV § 9). BiH has not joined common transit, so for BiH the transit declaration is always lodged at the BiH border.

The exit note and the deadlines

The German export office sends the exit note (Ausgangsvermerk) as a PDF to whoever filed the declaration. It is the dealer's proof, so if you or your agent filed, forward it.

Customs may invalidate the declaration if the car has not left the EU within 150 days of release. If the exit confirmation is missing, alternative proof, such as Serbian or BiH import customs documents (original or certified), can be given to the export office at the earliest 20 days after release; payment proofs and invoices are generally not accepted.

When the exit note is not enough

Unless the car left on export plates whose number is in the declaration, the dealer also needs proof that it was registered, cleared or taxed on import in Serbia or BiH (UStDV § 9 and § 10). That includes a car carried on a transporter. Such papers need an officially recognised translation, which may be waived for customs documents in English.

Export plates have their own guide; get them before the declaration, because their number goes into it.

Which purchase documents you need

  • From a dealer: an invoice with your full name and address stating that the sale is tax-exempt; a note such as "Ausfuhr" (export) is enough.
  • From a private seller: a purchase contract (Kaufvertrag), which has its own guide.
  • Both registration documents, Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil I and Teil II (the Serbian customs guide says when a certified copy is accepted).

The car need not be deregistered first (see the export plates guide). The EUR.1, normally arranged by the dealer, has its own guide.

Common mistakes

  • "Only buyers living outside the EU qualify." Residence outside Germany is enough; if the dealer ships the car, it does not matter.
  • "The exit must be confirmed within three months." That limit is for personal luggage, which a car is not; the customs limit is 150 days, and anything shorter comes from your contract.
  • "Have the export declaration stamped at the EU border." The exit is confirmed electronically, with no stamp.
  • "Get trial plates where you buy the car." On short-term plates or a dealer's red plates the export proof is not enough on its own for the VAT exemption; German customs recommend export plates.

Next step

Work out the whole cost

Sources

The official laws, decisions and pages this guide rests on, read on 23/09/2026. Rules and amounts change, so check the ones that matter to you before you buy.