EZT-Online: what the German electronic customs tariff does and does not do
Updated on 31 August 2026
EZT-Online is the electronic customs tariff of the German customs administration. It publishes the German import and export schedules with the EU measures from TARIC layered on top, and it is the authoritative reference for what a code means and what applies to it in Germany.
It is a reference work, not a classification tool. It answers the question 'what applies to this code'. It does not answer 'which code applies to my product', and treating it as though it did is where most self-service classification goes wrong.
What EZT-Online contains
The tariff brings several official sources into one view:
- The German import schedule to eleven digits and the export schedule to eight.
- The EU measures from TARIC: third-country duty, preferences, anti-dumping duties, quotas, suspensions, prohibitions, and restrictions.
- The national elements: the VAT rate and national prohibitions and restrictions carried on the eleventh digit.
- The legal notes to the sections and chapters, and the footnotes attached to codes and measures.
- The conditions attached to measures, expressed as certificate and action codes.
How to search it, and how not to
The search box takes a code or a keyword. The code path is reliable, and it is what the tariff is built for: enter a code, read what applies. The keyword path is where care is needed.
Keyword search matches the wording of the nomenclature, which is written in legal language rather than commercial language. Your product's trade name will often match nothing, or match a heading whose notes exclude it. The heading texts and the section and chapter notes are what decide the classification, and they have to be read rather than matched.
- Start from the objective characteristics of the goods: material, function, construction, intended use.
- Use keyword search to find candidate headings, then read the heading wording and the notes in full.
- Apply the General Rules of Interpretation 1 to 6 in order to choose between candidates.
- Check the footnotes and conditions on the code, not just the duty rate.
- Record the reasoning and the sources. EZT-Online will not keep them for you.
Where a reference work runs out
For a single shipment, EZT-Online plus the legal texts is a complete answer. The trouble starts with volume and with time.
A catalog of thirty thousand parts cannot be classified one lookup at a time, and the result cannot be maintained that way either: the Combined Nomenclature changes every January and TARIC changes daily, so a code checked once is not a code that stays correct. What is missing at that scale is not the data, which is public, but the reasoning, the documentation, and the monitoring that make thirty thousand classifications defensible in an audit years later.
Frequently asked questions
What is EZT-Online?
The electronic customs tariff of the German customs administration. It publishes the German import and export schedules together with the EU measures from TARIC, and it is the authoritative German reference for what applies to a given code.
Is EZT-Online free to use?
Yes. It is published by the German customs administration and is publicly accessible.
Can EZT-Online tell me the code for my product?
Not directly. It tells you what applies to a code you already have. Finding the code means reading the heading texts, the section and chapter notes, and the General Rules of Interpretation, because keyword search matches legal wording rather than trade names.
What is the difference between EZT-Online and TARIC?
TARIC is the EU-level integrated tariff to ten digits. EZT-Online is the German implementation, which adds the eleventh national digit, the VAT rate, and national prohibitions and restrictions.
How current is EZT-Online?
It follows the official measure data, which changes continuously. That is precisely why classifications held in master data need periodic revalidation rather than a single check at creation.
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More guides
- How to find the right customs tariff number for your goods
- Binding Tariff Information (BTI): legal certainty for your classification
- General Rules of Interpretation: how GRI 1 to 6 decide every classification
- HS code: what it is and how to find the right one
- Combined Nomenclature: what a CN code is and how it is used
- TARIC code: the ten digits that carry the EU measures
- Commodity code: which number you actually declare
- CBAM: what the EU carbon border adjustment means for importers
- EUDR: what the EU Deforestation Regulation requires from importers
- Anti-dumping duties: how EU trade defence measures hit your imports
- Dual-use export controls: when your goods need an export authorisation
- All guides