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The regulations on the reimbursement of VAT ("tax-free shopping") can be found under "tax-free shopping"

In principle the following applies: A customs declaration (in this case export clearance) must always be submitted when a vehicle is exported. This regulation also applies if the vehicle is for the purchaser's private use.
This export clearance can be submitted directly at the frontier customs office where the vehicle leaves the EC.
A verbal declaration suffices for vehicles worth up to 1,000 Euro.
If this value limit is exceeded a written clearance declaration must be submitted to the customs authorities. Form 0733 "Einheitspapier" ("Single Administrative Document") must be used for this purpose.
If the export of the vehicle needs to be confirmed by the customs authorities for VAT purposes, the international registration certificate for the registered vehicle must be submitted, irrespective of whether the declaration is made verbally or in writing. Further documentation might be requested by the customs authorities to check the registration or as proof of the lawful acquisition of the vehicle (e.g. the purchase contract/invoice issued by the EC-resident seller).
Furthermore, the registered vehicle must have export licence plates.
Otherwise the export cannot be confirmed by the customs authorities as evidence of export shipment (export certificate) for VAT purposes. Export licence plates and the international registration certificate can be obtained at all vehicle-registration offices.
Vehicles that are registered in an EC Member State or have a red licence plate or a short-term licence plate (vehicle registration plates issued within Germany for test drives, driving tests and delivery trips) may be cleared for export, but the export certificate for VAT purposes may not be confirmed by the customs authorities.

Fundamentally, only a person whose permanent residence is outside the EC may import a vehicle registered in a third country into Germany and use it without paying tax or duty. This is stipulated both in customs regulations and in vehicle tax law. The period of use of the vehicle is limited to six months. Possible exceptions from this six-month limit can be made, so that

• students from third countries and persons from third countries who work for a third-country company in Germany may use vehicles duty- and tax-free until the end of their stay,
• employees whose permanent residence is in a third country but whose workplace is in the EC ("commuters") may import and re-export vehicles for temporary use on a regular basis for an unlimited period.

In exceptional cases, EC citizens may import a vehicle officially registered in a third country for their own use in the customs territory of the EC and use it here temporarily if

• the vehicle is used occasionally on the instructions of the registered owner.
  Condition: the registered owner must be staying in the EC at the time of use.
• there is an emergency.
  The only way the person could return from a third country was by driving a foreign vehicle, since his/her own vehicle had broken down abroad.
  Condition: re-export of the foreign vehicle within five days.
• the person has re-entered the country in a hired vehicle belonging to a hire vehicle company registered in a third country.
  Condition: re-export of the vehicle within five days (with the consent of the German customs authorities within eight days).
• a company vehicle is used regularly for returning from the person's workplace in the third country to the place of residence in the EC, and there is proof of the foreign employer's authorization.

Please remember to affix a nationality sticker to the vehicle and (if appropriate) the trailer that is registered in the third country before you enter Germany. This nationality sticker must be displayed in addition to the national vehicle licence plates.

There are different allowances for duty-free quantities or values because of differing legal regulations, and there may be exceptions to every rule.
The following is a brief overview of the most important allowances by value or amount; the list is not complete and does not include exceptions (e.g. goods subject to excise duties)!

EUR 3
Small-sum arrangement for imports in tourist traffic;
amounts of less than EUR 3 are not levied.

EUR 5
Small-sum arrangement for other imports (except in tourist traffic);
amounts of less than EUR 5 are not levied.

EUR 10
Small-sum import VAT;
where no customs or excise duty is payable but only import VAT and the importer is able to deduct the import VAT as input tax at his/her tax office, import VAT amounts up to EUR 10 are not levied.

EUR 22
Consignments of minor value:
No import duty is levied if the total value per consignment does not exceed EUR 22.

With effect as from 1 December 2008, the maximum allowance for the duty-free import of small consignments is being increased to EUR 150 per consignment; for the import VAT, the existing value limit of EUR 22 will remain in force.

Excluded from this exemption are, however:

1. Alcoholic products,
2. Perfumes and eau de toilette,
3. Tobacco and tobacco products.

Coffee is also excluded from the excise duty exemption, i.e. tax is levied on coffee even within the EUR 22 limit.

EUR 50
Samples and specimens
A limited number of samples and specimens up to a value of EUR 50 can be imported in one consignment duty-free. Other conditions also apply here and must be complied with.

EUR 45
Duty-free allowance for consignments from one private person to another
Goods sent by a private person outside the customs territory of the European Community to a person inside the customs territory of the European Community are duty-free up to a total value of EUR 45 provided they constitute an occasional, non-commercial consignment (= are not being sent in return for payment) and certain quantity limits are not exceeded in the case of tobacco products, alcohol and alcoholic beverages as well as eau de toilette and coffee.

EUR 175
Duty-free travel allowance for imports by persons aged under 15 in tourist traffic from non-EU countries

EUR 300
Duty-free allowance for imports by persons aged 15 or older in tourist traffic from non-EU countries who do not enter the country by sea or air

EUR 430
Duty-free allowance for imports by persons aged 15or older in tourist traffic from non-EU countries who enter the country by sea or air

EUR 250/EUR 50
EU resident and non-EU residents may import samples and specimens for corresponding trading enterprises or processing facilities

1. in the case of industrial goods up to a value of EUR 250 per import consignment
2. in the case of food and agricultural products up to a value of EUR 50 per import consignment, with the exception of seed,

without an import permit.

EUR 700
Flat-rate duty:
For dutiable goods which travellers import in their personal baggage occasionally and exclusively for personal use or consumption for their household or as a gift
or
which are sent in occasional consignments of a non-commercial nature, i.e. not in return for charge, by natural persons from territories which neither form part of the customs territory of the Community nor belong to the island of Helgoland to other natural persons and are exclusively intended for personal use or consumption in the household of the consignee
and
whose value does not exceed EUR 700 per traveller or consignment, the import duty is levied at specified flat rates.

Description of goods	Preferential goods	Non-preferential goods
Sparkling wine	EUR 2.20 per litre	EUR 2.30 per litre
Liqueur wine, vermouth wine and other aromatized wines	EUR 2.10 per litre	EUR 2.10 per litre
Mixed products containing alcohol as well as brandy, liqueur and other spirits named in sub-items 2208 2012 to 2208 9078 of the Customs Tariff	EUR 6.60 per litre	EUR 6.80 per litre
Undenaturated ethyl alcohol with an alcohol content of 80 % by volume or more (in quantities up to 5 litres)	EUR 14.40 per litre	EUR 14.50 per litre
Undenaturated ethyl alcohol with an alcohol content of less than 80 % by volume (in quantities up to 5 litres)	EUR 9.80 per litre	EUR 9.90 per litre
Cigarettes	EUR 0.18 each	EUR 0.19 each
Cigars and cigarillos (in quantities up to 250 pcs.)	27 percent *	42 percent *
Fine cut (in quantities up to 1 kg)	EUR 70.30 per kg	EUR 82.80 per kg
Pipe tobacco (in quantities up to 1 kg)	EUR 35.40 per kg	EUR 49.30 per kg
Carburettor fuel	EUR 0.90 per litre	EUR 0.90 per litre
Diesel fuel	EUR 0.70 per litre	EUR 0.70 per litre
Other goods (exept beer)	15 percent	17.5 percent

*) of the domestic retail price for cigars or cigarillos of the same brand or equivalent type and quality.

The flat rates of duty pursuant to the table above do not apply when goods are imported in greater quantities than those stated above.
Where beer is imported in a quantity exceeding the duty-free allowance, the duty cannot be charged on a flat-rate basis. The import levies must be calculated on the basis of the rates of duty pursuant to the Customs Tariff and the German Beer Tax Law.

All indications of weight in this section refer to the net weights of the goods.

1,000 Euro
Compulsory declaration
Goods for import and export exceeding the value limit of 1,000 Euro must be declared in writing.

3,000 Euro
Copy 3 of the export declaration (SAD) must be stamped by the inland export customs office prior to exportation.

6,000 Euro
Most preferential agreements between the Community and other states provide for this value limit in connection with the necessary preference document. For shipments of less value a declaration of origin in prescribed wording directly on the invoice or another trade document would be sufficient. For higher value the movement certificate EUR.1 would be necessary for granting the preference in the country of importation.