Anybody entering Germany from another European Union member state carrying cash money or equivalent means of payment in a total amount of 10,000 euros or more is obliged to declare this amount of money verbally to a customs control unit when asked.

Cash or equivalent means of payment subject to declaration

"Cash" is:

• currency, i.e.

  • banknotes and coins, or
  • banknotes and coins that are valid means of payment or banknotes and coins that are not valid means of payment but can still be exchanged into a currency that is valid means of payment (e.g. German Mark (DEM), Austrian Schilling (ATS) - where conversion into Euros (EUR) is still possible).

• bearer negotiable instruments, e.g.

  • promissory notes
  • travellers cheques
  • shares
  • payment orders

and

• gold in the form of

  • coins with a gold content of at least 90%
  • gold bullion in the form of bars, nuggets or nuggets with a gold content of at least 99.5%

Equivalent means of payment are e.g.:

• passbooks
• precious stones (rough or cut), e.g. diamonds, rubies, sapphires or emeralds

• gold in the form of

  • coins with a gold content of less than 90%
  • gold bullion in the form of bars, nuggets or nuggets with a gold content of less than 99.5%
• other precious metals, e.g. platinum or silver

Foreign currencies shall be valued in euros at the exchange rate applicable on the day of entry.

The value of collectors’ or bullion coins (such as Maple Leaf, Eagle, Wiener Philharmoniker) shall be calculated based on its actual value and not the coin’s nominal or face value.

Declaration on request

The traffic of cash money and equivalent means of payment across the German borders to other European Union member states is monitored mainly by the customs control units operating both at the borders and within the national territory.
In addition to customs, the agents of the Federal Police are authorised to conduct the relevant inspections.

Where a customs official, during a random check, requests you to declare any cash money or equivalent means of payment carried by you, you must verbally declare the value of the cash money and/or equivalent means of payment as well as explain its provenance, its economic beneficiary, and its intended use, even if the total amount does not exceed the 10,000 euros threshold.

The consequences of non-compliance

If you fail to declare or to fully declare cash money or equivalent means of payment when requested to do so, you are committing an administrative offence. Such offence can be punished with a fine of up to one million euros.