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Buying from a private seller in Germany: the contract and the notary

When you buy from a private person in Germany, the purchase contract (Kaufvertrag) takes the place of an invoice. Serbian customs require the seller's signature on it to be certified, and in Germany that means a notary: about €29 for a car priced up to €19,000. Whether Serbian customs also want an apostille (about €25 at a German court) or a translation is not published, and for an import into BiH no rule was found that asks even for the certified signature.

When you need a certified contract

A dealer gives you an invoice, and Serbian customs accept an original invoice without any certification. A private seller issues no invoice and charges no VAT, so the purchase contract (Kaufvertrag) is your proof of purchase, in Serbia and in BiH. German customs may also ask to see it when the export is declared, as proof that you acquired the car lawfully.

For Serbia, the seller's signature on the contract must be certified by a competent authority, for example a court or notary; only the seller's signature is named, not yours (Uprava carina, questions and answers, updated 5 May 2026). Customs start from the price in the contract but may ask for more evidence if they doubt it (see the guide on duty and VAT in Serbia).

The contract does not prove the car's origin: for 0% duty you also need a proof of origin, as a rule an EUR.1 (see the EUR.1 guide).

What the contract should say

The German Civil Code sets the duties of seller and buyer (BGB section 433) but no form for a car sale, so the written contract is your proof. ADAC's model contract for a private sale, a market template rather than a rule, covers:

  • seller and buyer: name, address, date of birth, and the number and issuer of an ID card or passport;
  • the car: make, type, plate number, VIN, number of the Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil II, first registration and next HU;
  • the price, in figures and in words;
  • the mileage, any accident or other damage the seller knows of, and whether the car is an import;
  • the handover, with place, date and time: keys, Teil I, Teil II, the certificate of the last HU and the CoC, if there is one;
  • the seller's confirmation that the price was paid.

A private seller may exclude liability for defects, but not for a defect they fraudulently concealed or a quality they guaranteed (BGB section 444). The ADAC form has the buyer re-register the car in Germany; for an export, replace that clause under "Sondervereinbarungen" (our suggestion). The seller needs your full address and your confirmation that you received the registration certificate to report the sale to the registration office, unless they deregister the car first (FZV section 15).

Where the seller's signature is certified

In Germany a signature is publicly certified by a notary (BGB section 129). The seller signs in front of the notary, or acknowledges the signature there, and shows an identity document; the notary names the seller in the certification note and checks the text only for reasons to refuse (BeurkG sections 10 and 40). You need not be there. Other offices will not do it:

  • A town hall (Bürgeramt) certifies a signature only on a document to be presented to an authority, and only for that authority (VwVfG section 34); Berlin's, for example, does so only for German authorities and not on contracts.
  • The Serbian embassy and consulates in Germany certify signatures only for Serbian citizens, on documents such as statements and powers of attorney; the embassy in Berlin says it cannot certify signatures on contracts.

What the notary charges

The fee is set by law: 0.2 times the fee the law's table gives for the car's price, or for its market value if higher, at least €20 and at most €70, once for all the signatures in one certification note (GNotKG, no. 25100). The notary may add a flat postage charge of 20% of the fee, at most €20, and charges 19% VAT on the total. With the flat charge, our calculation gives:

  • price up to €19,000: €20.00 + €4.00 + €4.56 VAT = €28.56 (€23.80 without the flat charge);
  • price from €22,001 to €25,000: €32.84;
  • price from €25,001 to €30,000: €35.70;
  • price from €45,001 to €50,000: €47.12.

Bring the contract ready to sign. If the notary drafts it, or checks or changes your draft, a drafting fee of at least €120 applies (no. 24100), and a contract notarised as a deed (Beurkundung) also costs at least €120 (no. 21100); Serbian customs ask for neither.

In the calculator, switch on the row for the certified contract only when you buy from a private person (for BiH, only if your customs agent or the MUP asks for the certification): enter about €29 for a price up to €19,000, or about €54 with an apostille you obtain from the court yourself.

Does Serbia want an apostille?

Germany and Serbia are parties to the 1961 Hague Convention abolishing legalisation, under which a notary's certification of a signature is a public document and the apostille is the only formality that may be required for it. Germany is not on the Serbian Ministry of Justice's list of countries whose documents a bilateral treaty exempts from legalisation. Serbian law gives a foreign public document the evidentiary force of a domestic one if it is duly certified (General Administrative Procedure Law, article 123). Serbian customs do not say whether they ask for an apostille on a contract, so ask your forwarder before you travel.

The apostille is issued by a court in the German federal state (Land) where the notary works; which court that is varies from state to state, so ask the notary. The Hamburg Regional Court (Landgericht Hamburg) charges €25 per document certified by a notary and takes about a week, post included; courts in Bavaria charge about €25. If the notary obtains it for you, the notary charges a €25 fee of their own, a larger flat postage charge and VAT, and passes on the court fee: about €89 in all for a price up to €19,000, or about €94 if VAT is also charged on the court fee (our calculation).

Does the contract need a translation?

Serbian customs rules mention a translation only for the proof of origin. Under the General Administrative Procedure Law, a certified translation is attached to a foreign-language document "if needed" (article 123).

For powers of attorney and statements signed before a German notary, the Serbian Consulate General in Hamburg describes the procedure: the apostille, then a translation into Serbian, in Cyrillic, by an authorised translator. Whether customs ask for this on a car contract, and whether they accept a translation by a German sworn translator, is not confirmed; ask your forwarder.

What BiH asks for

No official BiH rule was found that requires a German contract between private persons to be certified, apostilled or translated. Every document the procedure needs goes with the customs declaration (Law on Customs Policy, article 74), and the homologation and registration rulebooks accept a sales contract or invoice without asking for certification (Pravilnik o homologaciji vozila, article 25; Pravilnik o registriranju vozila, article 6). The registration rulebook asks for certified signatures on a contract only when a car already registered in BiH changes owner (article 8). Under the administrative procedure law, which BiH customs apply, a foreign-language document is submitted in a certified translation "if needed" (Law on Administrative Procedure, article 161).

The Indirect Taxation Authority (UIO) page on buying a car says nothing about certifying the contract. Before you buy, ask your customs agent (špediter) and the MUP whether they want the seller's signature certified.

Common mistakes

  • "A contract is valid in Serbia only if it is certified." Certification does not make the contract valid, and German law sets no form for a car sale; Serbian customs want the seller's certified signature as proof of purchase.
  • "The seller's signature can be certified by a court, notary, MUP or municipality." A German town hall certifies signatures only on documents for German authorities; in Germany, go to a notary.
  • "The contract can be certified by a notary or an authorised agency." An agency is not an authority; Serbian customs do not accept an agency's certification even on a copy of the registration document.
  • "There are no standard contracts or rules for buying a used car." The German Civil Code sets the duties of seller and buyer and the limits of a warranty exclusion, and ADAC publishes a model contract; only the form is free.
  • "The certified contract is a condition for the export declaration." German customs may ask to see the contract, but the certification is a Serbian import requirement.

This step of the import

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.