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Customs administration in its dual function as security and financial authority has a wide range of activities. “Hardly any authority has been assigned so many different tasks,” said Matthias Heuser, provisional director of the main customs office in Lörrach. “The public perceives us primarily as a law enforcement agency. Customs officers, who wear uniforms and carry weapons at the border crossings, on federal highways and highways, or in the fight against undeclared work and illegal employment, shape the picture.
In commercial goods handling at border and inland customs offices and in the back office, so to speak, a lot more is going on. Especially in the current crisis, in which we support the federal police through our legal mandate to carry out border police entry controls, we are also keeping the flow of goods within Europe going by means of adapted processes. In doing so, we must not lose sight of the securing of the income from customs duties, import sales tax and excise duties, but we are currently taking special care when it comes to meeting deadlines. Regarding the protection of citizens as well as flora and fauna, we are as consistent as ever. Brand protection, product safety, species protection, food law provisions – no imported goods may endanger consumers and neither endanger animals nor plants. “Income With More than 2.4 billion euros in total revenue shows a slight increase compared to the previous year, as in 2018. The total includes customs duties of 51 million euros that flow to the EU, import sales tax of 2.1 Billion euros as well
Excise taxes including energy and electricity taxes totaling EUR 259 million. The revenue will go to the customs offices, which in 2019 include 5.2 million goods items cleared for so-called free circulation at the time of the goods import. Well over 800,000 trucks have carried goods in both directions via the customs office in Weil am Rhein and 565,000 in the customs office in Rheinfelden. Tax auditors who check the production processes, goods movements and the associated customs treatment over longer periods of time in import and export companies may make deviations from the original
Customs clearance firmly, which can lead to considerable subsequent charges, of course also refunds. In particular, the collection of excise duties at domestic companies, which arise from the consumption or use of certain goods, are checked and monitored by civilian customs officers in the field.
Of importance in the area of the main customs office in Lörrach are the many farms that produce alcohol from their fruit stocks.
The main customs office in Lörrach monitors around 10,000 of such approximately 26,000 severance distilleries operated throughout Germany, mostly in the Ortenau region. The total alcohol tax incurred in the district of the main customs office in Lörrach, like the beer tax, is levied by the main customs office in Stuttgart and is therefore not reflected in the statistics of the main customs office in Lörrach. The same applies to the motor vehicle tax to be levied in the district, which is administered by the main customs office in Singen. The customs administration itself drives open claims and also enforces public-law monetary claims from third-party creditors, such as the employment agencies, the pension insurance companies or the health insurance companies.
In 2019, the enforcement office of the main customs office in Lörrach, which also works in this area for the neighboring main customs offices in Karlsruhe and Singen, i.e. in the entire Baden region as far as the southern Palatinate, received 276,000 cases, and 85 million euros were realized. Smuggling of goods and cash The fight against smuggling of goods, drugs and weapons is a task of
Control units that pay particular attention to private travel. Around 78,000 people were subjected to a check last year, 1,300 were put up for search for various reasons. 178 people had to be arrested in a row. The illegal import of More than nine kilograms of amphetamines, around two kilograms of hashish, twelve kilograms of marijuana, 69 kilograms of Kath and 173,000 untaxed cigarettes could also be prevented with the help of our customs dogs. Cash totaling EUR 1.5 million
should be smuggled past the customs officers, usually well hidden in the vehicle. Prohibitions and restrictions on the import of goods If the designer product ordered online is a counterfeit, electrical, electronic devices or toys for children comply with European safety standards, imported animal and plant parts or the living creatures themselves are those that are from the Are they threatened with extinction and are therefore particularly protected? Are the medicinal products registered for import approved or even counterfeit in Germany? Are foodstuffs subject to special import restrictions? All this is checked at the border customs offices or the inland customs offices with their postal customs offices.
Around 39,000 items that were imported under the counterfeit brand name, mostly via the online retail trade for private individuals, and which the transport companies handed over to the customs offices for clarification – around 24,000 consignments in 2019 – had to be secured last year. 427 consignments contained articles that did not meet EU security standards, 22 violations of species protection regulations and 23 appeals in the area of pharmaceutical law had to be processed by the customs offices as a whole.
Export and customer confirmation for non-commercial travel for VAT purposes Travelers residing in a non-EU member state can shop in Germany without VAT. The procedure is linked to certain requirements, including confirmation of the residence situation and the export of the goods by the German border customs office is required. In the area of the main customs office in Lörrach, around 5.62 million such export register slips were confirmed last year, 20,000 fewer documents than in 2018.
Since January 1, 2020 – initially until an automated process is introduced – only purchases from an invoice amount of EUR 50.01 (per till or invoice receipt) can lead to a VAT exemption for exports in non-commercial travel. Financial control undeclared work In order to uncover undeclared work and illegal employment, social security fraud and abuse of performance and thus to protect the companies that do their business seriously from a competitive disadvantage, 1,400 companies were examined last year. As a result, over 1,600 criminal proceedings and around 650 administrative fine proceedings had to be initiated. The damage to society as a whole was EUR 6.4 million. In this area, the testing and investigation units are always in close contact with the judicial and partner authorities of the state and the municipalities, so complex issues can be checked in one go with different responsibilities. Even in times of the Corona crisis, this task is of particular importance.
“We are an authority with currently more than 1,000 employees and have a further need for qualified personnel. We offer crisis-proof locations at our locations in our district, which cover the districts of Lörrach, Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, Emmendingen, the Ortenaukreis and the city district of Freiburg and interesting jobs. School leavers who have successfully applied to us for two years of training in the middle service and for three years of dual studies in higher service at the Federal University of Applied Sciences currently have a takeover guarantee after successful completion. Applicants are also welcome to bring more life experience, You don’t have to be a sports cannon to do this, our jobs are also mostly suitable for people with severe disabilities
We are therefore happy to accept applications. We also regularly advertise vacancies on the free labor market. The change could be worth considering, especially in times of crisis. The training and press office as well as the personnel office of the main customs office in Lörrach provide information, “concludes Matthias Heuser.
More information about the tasks, training opportunities and
Vacancies are available at www.zoll.de.
(Info: Hauptzollamt Lörrach)
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