The amendment to the Foreign Trade Statistics Law of 5th March 2025 and the corresponding amendment to its implementing regulation of 6th March 2025 result in a significant burden reduction for companies.
The amendments result in an increase of the reporting thresholds for intra-EU trade statistics, which comes into effect retroactively on 1st January 2025. The aim of the increase is to reduce the reporting burden for companies as early as possible.
Starting from reporting month January 2025, a company is liable to submit Intrastat declarations
- for its intra-EU exports, if these exports exceed the value of 1 million Euro in the current or the previous calendar year (until recently 500,000 Euro)
- for its intra-EU imports, if these imports exceed the value of 3 million Euro in the current or the previous calendar year (until recently 800,000 Euro).
In case that its intra-EU exports exceed the value of 1 million Euro in the current or previous calendar year and at the same time, its intra-EU imports exceed the value of 3 million Euro, the company is liable to submit Intrastat declarations for both intra-EU exports and intra-EU imports.
In case that its intra-EU exports or intra-EU imports exceed the respective reporting threshold during the current calendar year, the company is liable to submit Intrastat declarations starting from the reporting month during which the respective reporting threshold has been exceeded (§ 14 par. 5 of the Foreign Trade Statistics Law).
If the intra-EU exports or intra-EU imports of a company did not exceed the new reporting thresholds during 2024 and have not yet exceeded them during 2025, the company is no longer liable to submit Intrastat declarations. In the future, reporting needs to be resumed when the intra-EU exports or intra-EU imports exceed the new thresholds. However, it is always possible to submit Intrastat declarations on a voluntary basis.
Please note: Intrastat declarations that have already been submitted for reporting month January 2025 are not subject to the legal changes. You do not need to submit your declarations a second time because of the changes.
Other burden reduction measures
Under certain conditions companies may submit simplified declarations for assortments of goods. One of the conditions is that the statistical value of the good or the consignment under consideration does not exceed certain threshold values. If all conditions are met, reporting units may request an authorization with the Statistisches Bundesamt pursuant to § 30 of the Implementing Regulation to the Foreign Trade Statistics Law. In addition, reporting units may make use of simplifications pursuant to § 31 of said Implementing Regulation, which may be used without prior authorization by the Statistisches Bundesamt.
The amendment to the Implementing Regulation increases the threshold values, which reduces the reporting burden for companies.
For additional information on the simplifications pursuant to §§ 30 and 31 of the Implementing Regulation to the Foreign Trade Statistics Law, please consult Section 6 of the Intra-Community Trade Statistics Geneal Guide.
Other changes
The amendments entail a number of additional changes to the Foreign Trade Statistics Law and its Implementing Regulation, which serve to clarify and complement the prevailing rules. For example, the amendments clarify the rules for correcting erroneous declarations and the rules for declaring partial shipments of disassembled goods. For additional information on these changes, please consult the Intra-Community Trade Statistics Geneal Guide.