An Indian colleague of mine recently bought a laptop in India and brought it back into Germany, through the 'nothing to declare' channel. He was stopped and questioned. He has now received a 'Straffsettel' for Euro 250.

The laptop was bought in a regular shop in India not in a duty free type store. Can you tell me whether he is permitted to bring in a laptop and how he can avoid paying the fine?

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Dear Harry,
 
You can go through the "green channel" if your permanent place of residence is not in Germany. If so, German tax authorities are entitled to charge you with VAT import tax, because added value should be taxed in the state of the consumer. That's why it does not matter whether you paid VAT in India or not. If you have your place of residence in Germany, you would have been entitled to claim VAT refund in India.
 
For final opinion please provide us with the corresponding documents and turn to one of our tax lawyers.
 
Best regards,

Csilla Iványi  

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Sam writes:

My mother-in-law was born and raised in Germany until about age 15 (she's now 63). She never had a German passport, however, as she was born during WWII (1942), she spent time in detention camps, she briefly lived in Greenland, and her American passport (she's now a naturalized citizen) says that she was born in Lithuania. Can her daughter (my wife) potentially become a German citizen? If so, how does that affect German citizenship possibilities for her husband (me) and our now unborn child (we're expecting in June)? Thanks in advance for your assistance.

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Dear Sam:

As to your residency I wonder why you can't work. An "Aufenthaltserlaubnis" due to the fact that you have a German son should be sufficient for a general work permit , too. If your girlfriend and son are not Germans, and she has a residence permit, a marriage could help you under certain circumstances - it is difficult to give an appropriate answer without knowing the details.

This also is the problem with the second part of your question - the issues regarding taxing in Germany and the US are handled in double tax agreements. These agreements should prevent the citizens of both countries from paying taxes twice. It is not possible to give you overall information without knowing more details, so it would be wise to see a lawyer who is specialised in taxes. You may turn to our office in Berlin by telephone or via email or look for a "Fachanwalt für Steuerrecht" in a telephone directory.

Best regards,
Csilla Iványi

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Diana Phillips writes:

My husband, who is German, and I are living in the United States and are considering moving back to Germany soon. Rather than living in a cramped and expensive apartment, we would like to buy some land and build our own house in the country. The type of house we want to build is a bit unconventional; it is called an earthship. Here is a link to a website with information about these types of homes: http://www.earthship.org/

What are the legal aspects of building homes in Germany? Would we be allowed to build this type of home in Germany? Here is another link to a website about earthship homes that are being built now in the UK: http://www.lowcarbon.co.uk/earthships.html
 
Thanks

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Dear Diana,
 
It's difficult to answer your question without knowing every detail of the house. Two aspects are important to know: the first question always is whether it's possible to build on a site at all - outside of cities and villages it's usually not possible, because they want to keep the outskirts and the landscape free of buildings.

The second question is how a house has to look like. In Germany you will usually face certain restrictions, because the municipalities tend to regulate what's allowed and what is too unusual. Such a fancy building like the earthship will certainly be a challenge to local authorities!

There are also many restrictions regarding fire protection measures, heat insulation and a lot more. Since you will definitely have to contact architects in order to get the formal permission for the construction, these questions will be clarified by an expert. With the legal questions I mentioned you should turn to a lawyer, so please feel free to contact me when your plans become more tangible.
 
Best regards,
Csilla

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Mark W Medley writes:

I recently signed a contract, that had both had a German and English copy. As I do not understand any German, I based my decision on the English contract. Unfortunately, the translation was not correct, and certain parts of the German version, are missing in the English version.

Does this mean the contract is still valid, given the fact all parties concerned knew I had no knowledge of the German language.

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Dear Mr. Medley,

Thank you for your question. The contract you have signed seems to be invalid from certain point of views, which could be used as arguments in a dispute. At first you can invalidate the contract by sending a contestation to avoid the contract to the other party, based on fraudulent misrepresentation (§§ 142, 123 German Civil Code). The misrepresentation might be based on the fact that all parties were aware of your language background and presented in spite of it a false translation of the German draft contract. Such contestation has to be executed within 1 year from that moment you discovered the misrepresentation.

Another argument for misrepresentation could be an explanation of the other party that both copies have one and the same content. However, it depends on the evidence available.

Nevertheless such contestation might be unfounded, if the other party did not know the distinctions between the two copies. Vice versa, you have to prove such knowledge in order to be successful with a contestation. If this is not possible, there is no base for a fraudulent misrepresentation, even with regard of the knowledge of your language background.

If the mistake in translation was made by negligence or by a third person, the knowledge of whom cannot be considered knowledge of the other contract party, you could contest the contract only based on your error of the content of your declaration of intent. Such contestation requires a prompt declaration (within the shortest possible term) and probably will be excluded now (§§ 119, 142 German Civil Code) already.

If the other party was not aware of the translation mistakes too, there could be an argument of dissent of the parties (§§ 154, 155 German Civil Code): If you understood "apple" and the other party understood "pear" and both of you founded your decision on the own understanding, you have not entered into an agreement (§ 154 German Civil Code). However, this provision applies to fundamental contract provisions only. In case the dissent concerns less relevant provisions only, the contract is valid (§ 155 German Civil Code), except for the clauses a consent did not exist. By this means you could get a contract as you thought to enter into.

The application of the law of contestation or of the law of dissent depends on what actually happened in detail. If both parties made a mistake, the law of dissent applies. If the mistake was made only by you, the law of contestation applies. If misrepresentation was made by the other party or by someone under it control you can contest too.

It may be difficult to decide whether the other party made a mistake related to the understanding of certain provisions or not. One could argue that the other party knew perfectly the German language draft contract with no reason of doubts. On the other hand they had to evaluate your declaration of intent, obviously based on an English version, too. In such evaluation they may have made the mistake to believe that you agreed to the not (correctly) translated provisions too.

We hope this information is useful for you. In case you want to get to know more details or start legal activities you are invited to contact our office and ask for Csilla Ivanyi.

Kind regards,
Csilla Ivanyi

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Steven writes:

Dear Csilla,

I am a British citizen, my wife is German and our son is dual nationality. Is it possible for me to make a last will and testament in England and have that accepted in Germany. I have no assets in England.

Best wishes

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Dear Steven,
 
You don't have to worry about your testament being overruled in Germany. According to the international private law you usually apply the law of the testator's nationality. If he doesn't live in his own country you apply the law of the country the testator has the closest relation with - so if you move to Germany to live here permanently it would be German law. A German judge would apply British law as long as you live in GB and German law if you have a closer relationship to Germany in the meantime. The will is being accepted as valid as long as it does not contradict fundamental principles of the German law (so called "ordre public") with regard to subjects like ethics, democracy etc. So usually you don't have to worry.
 
Best regards,
Csilla

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Yelana writes:

Hello Csilla,

I need some information please regarding cost of a health insurance in Germany for retirees, US citizens, choosing to retire to Germany. We would like to know how it works there. Can we buy an insurance from the German health care companies and how much would it cost monthly?

Thanks in advance.

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Dear Yelena,
 
Please contact the health insurance companies directly. Either you can contact an agent (Versicherungsagentur) who will compile interesting offers for you, or you can also search in the internet via Google for "Krankenversicherung". Usually health insurances prepare individual offers according to your wishes and state of health, so it's impossible to give you exact figures out of the blue.
 
Best regards,
Csilla

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23 January 2006

Send a question to Csilla Iványi at germany@expatica.com

This article contains information of a general nature and should not be considered as legal advice.

Although the greatest care has been taken in drafting this article, it is possible that certain information may have become outdated or inaccurate since its publication.

[Copyright Expatica 2006]

Subject: Life in Germany, legal advice, ask our lawyer