When ordering through our website you should have to pay no more taxes in your country within the EU for the products delivered to you. Also not alcohol tax. Not even if you live in a country with 'alcohol monopoly' such as Sweden and Finland. That's because all required local German taxes are already included in the listed prices and you are free to privately transport your booze anywhere you like in the EU.

 

"It's myBooze and I will take it anywhere I want!"

 

The EU Common Excise Duty Provisions

This is what the EU Commission says about the excise duty on alcohol:

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"Where should the duties be paid?

  • For commercial transactions, in general, the excise duty is paid in the Member State of consumption. To facilitate this, excise goods are transported from one Member State to another under duty-suspension until they reach their final destination.

  • If commercial consignments have already been released for consumption (and therefore the duty is paid) in one Member State, and are then transported to another Member State as final destination, a system of reimbursement is in place to avoid double taxation.

  • For private individuals, who buy excise goods for their own use, the tax is paid in the Member State of origin i.e. where they buy the goods. This is the case even if they bring these goods into another Member State. For more information, see travellers.

  • For distance selling (sale to a private person in another Member State), the principle of taxation in the Member State of destination applies. Therefore, products which have already been released for consumption and which are transported to another Member State will be subject to excise duty in the Member State of destination. The person liable to pay the excise duties is the vendor. To avoid double taxation, Directive 2008/118/EC provides for a system of reimbursement of the excise duty paid in the first Member State, subject to conditions to be determined by that Member State.

  • For buyers: Make sure the vendor includes the excise duties of your Member State in the selling price. If the vendor does not comply with the requirements under Article 36(4)(a) of Directive 2008/118/EC you may become the person liable under Article 36(3). Also make sure that the price of transport is included in the price. If you agree to arrange the transport separately you become liable for the excise duty in “your” Member State.

  • For vendors: Bear in mind that in most Member States a tax representative in the Member State of destination is required under Article 36(3) of Directive 2008/118/EC. This means that you cannot send excise goods to a private person without having appointed a tax representative in that Member State of destination. Check the national excise procedures before dispatching goods to private persons"

Since you are a private individual ordering booze for your own consumption, there are only two categories defined in the provisions above that one could possibly consider a transaction through our website to fall into: for private individuals or for distant selling.

holygrail

Well, I thought this was a distance sale...

As they say: 'If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably  is a duck'. Except when it is not a duck. Have you seen the witch scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail? (if you haven't, watch it here - definitely worth it!)

Here is why an order through our website is undoubtedly not a distance sale.

We are not selling booze to you. We offer to you through our website only our intermediation services for prepaid vouchers. The booze we advertise and which you may select during the ordering process serves essentially for the calculation of the transportation fee, which is based on the estimated total number of packages to be transported. You are acquiring through our intermediation multiple-purpose vouchers in the amount of items you selected as well as the corresponding shipping costs, redeemable both at a local retailer and parcel shipping company in Germany.

As a convenience to you, we will physically present your selection as a wishlist to an independent local retailer in Germany, which can also accept the vouchers you acquired as payment (and similarly with the shipping company). The retailer will then confirm whether they can sell to you the items you wish for the prices we advertised, or propose any substitute item (you have of course no obligation to accept any changes!). The transaction with the retailer happens 100% locally and we intermediate the full communication with you. The local retailer is not aware of where you live or where the products are going to be taken. It knows only that you are of legal age for purchasing alcohol according to German laws, and that you have hired us to intermediate the collection of the products on your behalf by the shipping company.
Therefore, as a regular local store in Germany, the retailer who is making the sale to you can not be considered to be distance selling.

So your order through our website can only be classified as a local, private individual purchase once it materializes at the local retailer.

Order safely through myBooze

Still unsure about ordering through our website?

All our customers have a 100% Delivery Guarantee and can revoke their order at any time until delivery at their appointed address. No questions asked!


As a private individual, you are free to buy booze where you like in the EU. So if you want to take advantage of the benefits we offer through our website, just scroll through the assortment for your preferred items and enjoy!

For more information on our 100% Delivery Guarantee read here.