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Jul 14, 2026 at 12:17 PM
A Swiss medical device company has established a central warehouse in the Ludwigsburg district of Baden-Württemberg to optimize the supply to its customers. However, during customs clearance, the company reported pro forma values, as there were no purchase transactions at the time of import. This led to an audit by the main customs office in Singen, which found that the declared values were too low.
As part of this audit, the audit service of the main customs office determined that the company had not paid approximately EUR 135,750 in duties. Sonja Müller, spokesperson for the main customs office in Singen, explained that the audit service also checks compliance with customs regulations after clearance. This involves reviewing the tax-relevant documents of companies to ensure that duties, excise taxes, and import VAT are paid at the correct amounts. These audits are conducted both in favor of and against the companies.
In addition to the additional assessments due to the low customs values, customs also discovered discrepancies in other customs value-relevant costs, such as development costs and freight costs. These findings led to an additional assessment of approximately EUR 11,800 in duties as well as a refund of around EUR 25,000.
Audits to ensure tax compliance
Customs audits are generally conducted to retrospectively verify completed transactions and ensure that all tax requirements have been correctly adhered to. The subject of the audit includes all relevant facts that can lead to the creation and structuring of a tax claim. Both in favor of and against the company are examined. Often, errors or irregularities are found during these audits that can lead to additional assessments or refunds of taxes. In some cases, such audits can also result in criminal and administrative penalties.
