Undeclared Cash at German Airports

By Dr Julius Hagen, German lawyer

When customs holds your cash

If you travel through a German airport carrying EUR 10,000 or more, you may have to submit a cash declaration or provide information on request, depending on your itinerary. If money has been held, we examine the declaration duty, the reasons for the measure and the options for recovering it. We also provide defence in related criminal or fine proceedings.

During a check, customs asks about the itinerary, the source of the funds, the beneficial owner and the intended use. Initial answers may later appear in control records or investigation files. Statutory duties to provide information must be observed; questioning as a suspect is subject to separate procedural rights.

Which declaration your itinerary requires

When entering or leaving the EU, a person carrying cash of EUR 10,000 or more must declare it to the competent customs authority without being asked and make it available for inspection under Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1672. The green channel is therefore not the appropriate route on arrival when carrying cash that must be declared.

For travel between Germany and another EU Member State, cash and equivalent means of payment with a combined value of EUR 10,000 or more must be disclosed on request. Section 12a of the German Customs Administration Act (ZollVG) also requires information on source, beneficial ownership and intended use. For connecting flights and transit, we examine the full itinerary, the border crossing and the actual check.

What counts towards EUR 10,000

Under EU rules, cash includes banknotes and coins, certain bearer-negotiable instruments, gold coins with a gold content of at least 90%, and gold bars, nuggets or clumps with a gold content of at least 99.5%. Section 1(4) ZollVG additionally covers equivalent means of payment, such as unworked precious stones or other precious metals. The German duty to disclose these items on request also applies when travelling to or from a non-EU country.

The threshold applies to the individual traveller and includes money carried for someone else. A courier may therefore have to declare funds they do not own. Where several people travel together, it is necessary to establish who actually carried each amount; family members' assets are not simply added together because they share a flight.

Evidence of the source of the funds

The information given during the check is compared with the evidence of the funds' source. If money was first described as personal savings but is now said to belong to someone else, that discrepancy needs an explanation. We examine the control record and supporting documents before responding to the authority.

Finding cash or the absence of a document during the check does not establish a criminal source. Under section 12a(5) ZollVG, customs may require suitable supporting evidence. Records should show how the money was acquired, withdrawn and made available for the journey. A withdrawal receipt may explain only the final step; a sale or loan may also require contracts and payment records. Any statutory right to withhold information or documents must be assessed for the person concerned.

Anyone carrying money for someone else must also be able to explain who is beneficially entitled to it and its intended use. For funds belonging to relatives or business partners, the transport instructions and records concerning the recipient may help. These should be consistent with the information given during the check.

How long customs may hold the money

A missing or incorrect declaration can lead to fine proceedings under section 31 ZollVG. Section 12a(7) ZollVG also permits temporary detention of the money where declaration or disclosure duties have been breached or the specified grounds for suspicion exist. If there are grounds to suspect a connection with criminal activity, amounts below EUR 10,000 may also be held.

Detention under this provision is limited to up to 30 days from discovery. The competent local court, the Amtsgericht, may extend the period once to a total of no more than 90 days. The money must be released when the conditions cease to apply. Seizure in criminal proceedings is governed by different provisions and time limits.

Section 31a ZollVG also allows confiscation for the declaration and disclosure offences it specifies. This permanently deprives the person concerned of the money and requires a separate decision. Temporary detention alone does not justify confiscation.

We examine the legal basis and reasons for the measure, the deadlines and the appropriate court remedy. For a request to release the funds, we prepare the evidence of their source and intended use.

A separate money-laundering investigation

A failure to declare cash does not automatically amount to money laundering. An allegation under section 261 of the German Criminal Code (StGB) requires further elements, particularly a connection with property derived from an unlawful act. Changing explanations or an unusual itinerary may prompt further enquiries, but they do not replace proof of the offence.

If customs pursues such a suspicion, we obtain the investigation file and establish which facts support it. Statutory declaration and information duties must be distinguished from making a statement about the criminal allegation.