Can I travel with my video game to Germany?

Upvote:3

Yes, as a tourist visiting Germany, you may (with very few exceptions) temporarily import most objects without paying duties or taxes, as long as you intend to bring them with you when leaving Germany again. You can find extensive information and a list of exceptions on this web page from German Customs.

Upvote:8

SECOND UPDATE:
First thanks to Jonathan Reez for asking, here is the source again:

German customs site

After a short controversy in the comments below I phoned the customs and asked for clarification:

If you intend to bring non-consumable items in general to Germany which you will bring back home, you do not need to pay duty, excise or VAT. So for the Playstation 4, you can bring it from Brazil and you will have no problems to bring to Germany.

If you bring consumable items like cigarettes, alcohol, medicine or fuel you are free to import the given amount which is counted for personal use. If the amount of these substances is higher, customs duty must be paid. It does not matter if it is in the baggage or if you intend to bring the same amount out of Germany again (only transit visit).

If you intend to leave non-consumable goods in Germany (in contrast to not bringing it back home like in the third paragraph), you may do that without paying duty for the following values:

  • Goods up to a value of 300 euros for land travellers.
  • Goods up to a value of 430 euros for air/sea travellers.
  • Goods up to a value of 175 euros for travellers under 15 years of age.

If you intend to leave something more valuable, you can research the amount of duty and excise in this table which unfortunately only exist in German.

As traveller you may import fraudulent or copyrighted material for your own personal use as long as it is not commercial. Therefore you need to sometimes sign a waiver. As German customs are notorious for intercepting post packages and shipments from buyers in Germany, I erroneously assumed that travellers have the same restrictions. Mea culpa.

German customs:
Phone: +49 351 44834-510
Mail: [email protected]

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