End of Cuxhaven Free Zone and Updates to Customs and Energy Tax Penalties in Germany

• The Cuxhaven free zone will be officially abolished on January 1, 2027; affected companies must transition to standard customs procedures.
• Major reforms to customs penalty regulations (ZollVG) take effect April 1, 2026, including consolidation and clarification of penalty provisions and the introduction of independent sanction norms.
• The new § 31a ZollVG allows confiscation of goods in administrative offenses related to cash declarations, not just criminal cases.
• Adjustments have also been made to energy tax law, specifically § 57 EnergieStG and § 103 EnergieStV, mainly affecting tax relief for agricultural and forestry businesses.

Source: awb-international.com

Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.

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