Importing Custom Inflatables into Germany: EORI, Tariff and 19% VAT

An importer established in the EU, with an EORI number, is responsible for the customs declaration, and the goods are classified under a commodity code in the EU tariff. Import VAT is charged at the German standard rate of 19% in addition to any duty.

This is the step that decides the schedule. If the brand already imports, the path is short. If the buyer is an agency producing a campaign, the usual routes are the client's importer or an importer of record service. What does not work is discovering at the port that nobody on the paperwork is established in the EU.

Duty is set by the classification; import VAT is charged at the German standard rate in addition to it. A quotation showing only the goods price is therefore not the landed cost, and on a bulky shipment the freight element inside the VAT base is larger than buyers expect.

Ask for the CIF value and the intended incoterm in writing. DDP is reviewed by quotation rather than offered as standard.

The fabric body, the electric blower, any lighting and the accessories can each fall under a different commodity code. The importer or a customs agent confirms classification from the materials, the construction, the use and photographs, and it is worth having in writing before the goods move.

The packing list matters here too: freight on an inflatable is charged on volume as much as weight, so ask for packed dimensions, carton count and gross weight in the quotation.

The trade fair calendar and the outdoor season drive demand: the Oktoberfest in Munich runs from the Saturday after 15 September to the first Sunday in October, German Unity Day falls on 3 October, and Christmas markets open from late November. Exhibitor manuals set their own deadlines for technical and material documentation, often well before move-in.

That last sentence is the one to act on. A stand-build project is governed by the exhibitor manual, and the documentation deadline it sets is normally well before move-in — often before the piece would otherwise have been ordered.

Work back from the installation date. Bulk production typically takes 3–8 days for simple items, 7–15 days for standard custom work and 15–25 days for complex or large pieces, counted from final design approval. Working back from German Unity Day on 3 October, that means approving artwork by mid-July for a complex piece shipped by sea, or by mid-August for air freight.

The autumn cluster — Oktoberfest, Unity Day, then the Christmas markets from late November — puts three peaks into a short run, and they compete for the same production and freight capacity.