Einfuhrumsatzsteuer auf koreanische Kosmetikprodukte: So funktioniert sie und so verhindern Sie, dass sie Ihr Geld auffrisst

11 June 2026 · The Glow Trade

The first Korean order lands on a Tuesday. The broker's clearance invoice arrives on Wednesday, and the biggest line on it is not duty, which on serums and masks is zero, but import VAT: a fifth of everything, payable before the pallet leaves the airport. The retailer pays, because the goods are sitting there, and for the next two months that money belongs to the tax office instead of to the shelf. The tax is unavoidable. Whether you finance it is a box on the customs declaration, and most first-time importers never hear about the box.

The short version

Import VAT is calculated on the customs value (goods plus freight and insurance to the EU border) plus any customs duty plus transport onward to the first destination inside the importing country, under Articles 85 and 86 of Council Directive 2006/112/EC.
Cosmetics carry the standard rate everywhere in the EU: 20 percent in Austria under paragraph 10 UStG 1994, 19 percent in Germany under paragraph 12 UStG and 21 percent in the Netherlands, all confirmed against the statutes and tax authorities on 2 September 2026.
A VAT-registered importer deducts the import VAT on its next VAT return, and Austria (paragraph 26(3) UStG), Germany (deferment account, paragraph 21(3a) UStG) and the Netherlands (Article 23 permit) each let the importer avoid paying it at the border at all.

The base is bigger than your invoice

Two layers, and the second is the one people miss. Layer one is the customs value: Article 70 of the Union Customs Code sets it at the price actually paid for the goods, and Article 71 adds transport and insurance to the place where the goods enter the EU, whoever paid it. A purchase made ex works Incheon is still valued at the EU border with the air freight inside it, and any duty is charged on that number.

Layer two is the VAT base. Article 85 of the VAT Directive starts from the customs value, and Article 86 adds the duty plus transport, packing and insurance up to the first place of destination inside the importing country. Freight therefore enters the sum twice, to the border and then from the border to your door. On air freight from Korea, where the freight bill on a small order can approach a third of the goods value, the base ends up a quarter or more above the pro forma you thought you were being taxed on. Model the freight line before you model the tax, because it drives the tax.

Duty sits in the base too, and every euro of it attracts VAT on top. It is zero on skincare, make-up and haircare (headings 3304 and 3305), but a cleansing gel under 3401 30 carries 4 percent and a deodorant under 3307 carries 6.5 percent unless you hold a valid origin declaration, so whether that paperwork is worth chasing depends on the codes on your invoice.

The rate is the standard rate, in every member state

No member state applies a reduced rate to cosmetics, and the Directive sets a floor of 15 percent on the standard rate with no ceiling. Austria charges 20 percent (paragraph 10(1) UStG 1994), Germany 19 percent (paragraph 12(1) UStG), the Netherlands 21 percent, all standing on 2 September 2026. The Commission's Taxes in Europe Database lists the rest. You pay the rate of the country where the goods are cleared, which is not always where you sell them.

One thing you should not see is Korean VAT. Korea zero-rates exports, so a correct Korean invoice shows none; if yours does, ask why before you pay, because no European tax office will refund it.

It is a loan, and you are the lender

Article 168 of the VAT Directive gives a business the right to deduct the VAT it paid on imports used for its taxed sales, exactly as it deducts a domestic supplier's VAT. The import VAT goes in as input tax on the next return, nets against the output VAT you collected at the till, and any surplus is refunded. Over the life of the stock the tax costs you nothing. What it costs is time. Between the day the broker demands it and the day your return is processed the money is out of the business, for a quarterly filer the better part of a quarter. Worked through on a 5,000 euro order, with round assumptions you should replace with your own quotes:

Line	Euro
Goods, serums and sheet masks under 3304, ex works Incheon	5,000
Air freight and insurance to Vienna airport (assumed)	900
Customs value	5,900
Duty at 0 percent	0
Trucking from airport to your shop (assumed)	100
Import VAT base	6,000
Import VAT, Austria, 20 percent	1,200

Same shipment cleared in Germany: 1,140 euro. In the Netherlands: 1,260 euro. Swap the serums for cleansing gels under 3401 30 with no origin declaration and the 4 percent duty adds 236 euro to the base, so the Austrian bill becomes 1,247 euro. Either way you lend the state roughly a quarter of the goods value on top of paying the supplier upfront, and that working-capital stack, rather than the unit price, usually decides whether direct import beats an EU wholesaler at your order size.

Three countries, three ways not to pay at the border

Austria has the cleanest mechanism. Paragraph 26(3) of the UStG 1994 lets a registered business have the import VAT booked to its tax account at the Finanzamt instead of collected by customs, provided the option is declared in the customs declaration. The amount is reported as a liability and deducted as input tax on the same return, so the cash never leaves. The condition is that your broker declares it; we still meet Austrian importers paying at the border because nobody ticked the box.

Germany has no postponed accounting, but the deferment account (Aufschubkonto, Article 110(b) of the Union Customs Code) moves the due date: duty on the 16th of the following month, import VAT on the 26th of the second following month under paragraph 21(3a) UStG. A January clearance is paid on 26 March, after the return has claimed it back. Customs normally wants a guarantee for the account but waives it for import VAT that is fully deductible. Many brokers clear against their own account and re-bill you; ask what that costs.

The Netherlands runs the Article 23 permit: the import VAT is declared and deducted on the same return and nothing is paid on entry. A business not established in the Netherlands cannot apply itself and has to appoint a tax representative, who holds the permit and files on its behalf.

The email to send your broker before the first entry

Send this to whoever will lodge the customs declaration, before the goods fly. If the reply to point 1 is a blank look, change broker.

Subject: import VAT set-up for our Korean shipments

Hello,

We will be importing cosmetics from Korea regularly and want the import VAT handled through the return rather than paid at the border.

Please declare the import VAT [Austria: under paragraph 26(3) UStG to our tax account, tax number ...] [Germany: against a deferment account; if you clear on your own account, state your fee] [Netherlands: under our Article 23 permit, held by our tax representative ...]. Confirm in writing which option will appear on the declaration.

Our purchase terms are [EXW / FOB / CIF]. Please include freight and insurance to the EU border in the customs value and onward carriage to our premises in the VAT base, and show both on the entry.

Please send us the customs entry and the import VAT assessment in our company name and VAT number after each clearance, so we can deduct the tax on our return.

Thank you, [name, company, VAT number]

Questions buyers ask

Can the supplier under-declare the invoice so I pay less VAT?

Some Korean traders offer this openly. Do not take it. The customs value is the price actually paid under Article 70 of the Union Customs Code, and an under-valued entry is customs fraud with your company name on it. A registered business recovers the VAT anyway, so you would risk a penalty to save nothing.

The courier cleared it and charged me the VAT. Can I still deduct it?

Only if the customs entry names your business as the importer. Couriers clear either in their own name or in yours, and that decides whether the tax is deductible or just an invoice line you paid. Ask for the import document showing your company and VAT number, and agree in writing who the importer of record is on the next shipment.

I am not VAT-registered. Do I still pay import VAT?

Yes. Import VAT is due when the goods enter, whatever your status. An unregistered business, or one using a small-business exemption, cannot deduct it, so for you it is a real cost of around a fifth of the landed value and belongs in the margin calculation.