German homebrewing regulations

[iancraig]

Hello,

I guess this is directly relevant to almost nobody here, but maybe one or two find it interesting. At least it will probably confirm well-held stereotypes about Germans, and give most of you one more reason to be thankful that you live in the UK .

Here in Germany, you have to tell the authorities that you plan to brew at home. More specifically, according to the letter of the law, you have to pre-register every brewday (every batch) with the local customs office before you do it.

Depending on where you live, the customs officers seem to take this more or less seriously. But on the german homebrew forums there are plenty of stories of officials turning up on (the pre-registered) brewday to check that the brew length and strength (%ABV) are as reported. Many of them try to buy a few bottles after completing their routine.

The reason is tax. As a homebrewer living in Germany, I am allowed to brew 200l tax-free per calendar year. After that I have to pay 0.004407€ per litre and degree Plato.

According to the thread "How many gallows of homebrew 2012" you guys brewed 7319.5 gallons in 2012. That is 33275 litres. Assuming an average OG of 1.050 (~12 Plato), that's a tax bill of 1760€ = £1500. This ignores the tax-free allowances and the fact that this is split over hundreds of homebrewers, making you really wonder what the value of all this bureaucracy is ..

Sigh.

All the best,

Ian

 

[dennisking]

Ian, makes pleased to live and brew in the UK.

 

[Scott]

Is this the same for Kits? Or just for AG?

Not surprising really though, a Government doing everything they can to get blood from a stone, I'm surprised our own Government haven't caught on yet, especially as its a growing industry.

 

[SloeBrewer]

Sounds like just the sort of mindless bureaucracy our government would revel in...

 

[iancraig]

The law applies to AG, extract brewing, kits, it doesn't matter .. as soon as you make beer at home (and you make more than 200 liters per year) the taxman can come calling.

 

[iancraig]

Actually, after reading the replies above, maybe a forum admin should delete this topic in case anyone from Westminster stumbles across it ..

My apologies.

Ian

 

[Scott]

But surely it's too difficult to police anyway, especially with Kit brewing as their is no boil to give the game away...

Pasty tax got scrapped after uproar, so I doubt the Government would be able to pass through this type of tax. Regardless how much they would want to.

 

[iancraig]

@Scott: I completely agree, the policing here is ridiculous ... a complete waste of time .

Doesn't stop them trying here though. I've read about german customs officers asking to see receipts for how much grain and hops you've been buying to figure out if you might be a commercial operation.

I've started to print out and file every order I make at my online supplier, just in case I get a visit. "Just because you're paranoid, don't mean they're not after you" .. etc ..

Ian

 

[Will12283]

You can see why Germany is the only country in Europe to run at a profit with that attention to detail. :thumb:

 

[RokDok]

Ian,

Would that be 200 l per adult or per household ?

rd

 

[iancraig]

@rd

I guess it is 200l per person. But I'd have to check. Still, nice thinking. :thumb:

I've got a wife, right? So that's 400l per household.

And two kids, and this is (southern) Germany right? So they also count for something ... :P

Ian

 

[mmaguy41]

glad i live in the uk 200l would not be enough for me!

 

[Dieseljockey]

Unbelievable hope those cretins at Westminster don't come up with anything like this. :pray:

 

[Titus A Duxass]

It's 200 per household.
Nobody takes any notice of those rules around my area.
Hell some of the locals think that MoT tests are optional.

 

[Robbo100]

Surely the paperwork and inspectors' salary costs more than the income it generates. It would be far easier to change a small additional tax on grain instead!

How crazy!!!

 

[Sean_Mc]

Never heard that before, I did read somewhere about the churches taxing you too in Germany :?
We think we have it bad, 'nowt as queer as folk' as they say

 

[jonnymorris]

...according to the letter of the law, you have to pre-register every brewday (every batch) with the local customs office before you do it.

:shock:

 

[Titus A Duxass]

Yes there is a church tax but you can opt out.
We don't get stung because they don't recognise CofE as a religion.

 

[galagonya]

Well now I know from where the hungarian law makers got the idea.
It's very similar over here to. You have to report at least three days before brewday and I heard several ocassions when custom guys paid visit to brewer.
We are allowed to brew 1000l per year so this makes us better beer drinkers then germans. Well at least craftbeer :)))

 

[jonewer]

As I have said elsewhere, just because its ruinously unprofitable, kafkaesquely beaurocratic, and risks criminalising large numbers of people, doesnt mean the government wont do it