Viticulture; payment of the levy for the German Wine Fund

To specifically promote the sale of wine produced in Germany from grapes grown there, the municipalities levy the German Wine Fund Levy on winegrowing businesses.

For contact details of the responsible authoritiy and local valid information select under "Select location" a location.

The tax is payable by the owner or authorized user of planted vineyard areas, provided these cover more than 5 ares (=500 m²). The levy amounts to € 0.67 per acre of the vineyard area shown as planted in the vineyard register.

As the levy is collected on the basis of the information in the vineyard register, it is particularly important that changes in cultivation are reported in full and in good time by 31 May of each year (see vineyard reports). The levy collected in the current calendar year is generally intended to promote the sale of products obtained from the previous year's harvest.

The obligation to pay the levy therefore relates to the area registered as planted at the time of harvest in the previous year. For example, the area under vines at the time of the 2018 harvest is decisive for the levy charged in 2019.

The levy is used to support measures to promote wine from Germany, in particular general public relations work, market research activities and the organization of trade fairs and exhibitions as well as participation in these. To this end, the income from the levy is forwarded to the German Wine Institute in Bodenheim.