Calculating German beer duty: degrees Plato, reduced rates and what applies in a tax warehouse

The formula in one sentence

German beer duty is worked out from the quantity in hectolitres, the original gravity in degrees Plato and the rate. The standard rate is 0.787 euros for one hectolitre of beer per degree Plato (section 2(1) BierStG). Unlike spirits, alcoholic strength plays no part in the calculation.

That surprises many people coming from the spirits trade. There, pure alcohol is what counts. Here it is the original gravity. A strong bock beer with high gravity is therefore taxed considerably more than a light lager, even where the difference in alcohol is small. For costing it means you need a figure per product that purchasing has rarely asked for.

What degrees Plato means

Degrees Plato is the original gravity of the beer in grams per 100 grams of beer, derived from the alcohol and extract content using the large Balling formula. Fractions of a degree are disregarded (section 2(1) BierStG). A beer at 11.8 degrees Plato is therefore calculated at 11 degrees.

The value comes from the brewery and usually sits in the technical data sheet for the product. For traders and warehouse keepers it is a mandatory entry, without which neither the duty calculation nor the stock ledger works. Anyone buying beer in should ask for it at the point of ordering.

A worked example step by step

1. Convert the quantity to hectolitres. A pallet holding 1,200 bottles of 0.5 litres makes 600 litres, so 6 hectolitres.
2. Establish the degrees Plato. The brewery states 11.8 degrees Plato, and the calculation uses 11.
3. Pick the rate. With no reduction the standard rate of 0.787 euros applies.
4. Multiply. 6 times 11 times 0.787 gives 51.94 euros.
5. Cross check on a round figure. 100 hectolitres at 12 degrees Plato give 100 times 12 times 0.787, so 944.40 euros.

Reduced rates for smaller breweries

Independent breweries with a total annual production below 200,000 hectolitres pay less. The reduction is graduated evenly in steps of 1,000 hectolitres, so the rate falls as annual production falls (section 2(2) BierStG). What counts is the production of the brewery, not the volume a single customer takes.

Between those steps the calculation is linear, so a brewery at 30,000 hectolitres sits between 70 and 75 per cent. The condition is legal and economic independence from other breweries. A brewery producing under licence loses the reduction unless the licensed production stays within the statutory exceptions.

When duty arises and when it falls due

Duty arises on removal from the tax warehouse into free circulation (section 14 BierStG). While the beer sits in the warehouse or moves under duty suspension, nothing happens in duty terms. That is why breweries are themselves tax warehouses, since the law treats a brewery as one (section 2(3) BierStG).

Accounting runs on a monthly rhythm. The duty return is due by the seventh day of the month following the month in which duty arose, extended by the main customs office (Hauptzollamt) to the tenth day in justified cases. The duty falls due on the twentieth day of the following month (section 15(1) BierStG). That leaves less time than other excise duties allow, and the figures have to be ready at month end.

The return breaks the quantities down by duty class, because beer is grouped into classes by degrees Plato. Where different rates are claimed for beer in the same class, for instance because of a reduction, the breakdown also has to follow the rates. Anyone carrying many products needs a report out of the stock ledger for that rather than a manual count.

What applies inside a tax warehouse

The warehouse keeper maintains a document file and a stock ledger. Receipts and removals are recorded in the stock ledger without delay (section 9(3) BierStV), the document file holds the related supporting documents. For beer that means quantities in hectolitres and the original gravity per product. A business that has only stored spirits until now needs a second way of counting, because litres of pure alcohol are no help here.

Movements under duty suspension also run through EMCS, using the same messages as for spirits. The difference sits in the product data, where degrees Plato appear. What changed with the current release is covered in the article on EMCS 2.7.

Beer mixes and classification

Beer for the purposes of the Act means products under heading 2203 of the Combined Nomenclature, together with mixtures of beer and non alcoholic drinks falling under heading 2206 (section 1(2) BierStG). Classification therefore decides whether beer duty applies or another excise law takes over.

In practice this is clear for shandy and similar mixes, and much less clear for heavily flavoured drinks. A binding tariff information is worth obtaining before the first batch is stored. Otherwise a wrong classification surfaces at an inspection, and then it applies retrospectively.

Beer at our warehouse

Our authorisation currently covers alcohol products under the Alcohol Duty Act. We will take beer in once the authorisation covers it. The procedures stay the same as for spirits, except that the stock ledger counts in hectolitres and degrees Plato instead of litres of pure alcohol. The duty return to the main customs office and the movement through EMCS carry on unchanged.

What you need for the preparation is modest: a list of products with original gravity, the pack sizes, and a view on how long the beer is expected to sit. From that follows how many pallet spaces are needed and which duty classes the stock ledger has to carry. What a warehouse takes on and what you supply is set out on the page about the bonded warehouse. If you are planning to store beer duty unpaid, send us a short message.

Last updated 21 September 2026. This article is not legal or tax advice.