Zoll asset seizure from 2027: the cabinet bill

Updated:
05.10.2026

On 12 August 2026 the federal cabinet approved a bill that gives the German Zoll the right to seize assets of questionable origin — without a criminal case. The owner of an expensive asset will have to explain where it came from. Entry into force is planned for 1 January 2027. Here is what has already been decided and what has not.

What exactly was approved on 12 August

This concerns the Zollfinanzgerechtigkeitsgesetz — full title “Gesetz für mehr Gerechtigkeit durch die Stärkung der Zollverwaltung und die Bekämpfung der Finanzkriminalität”. The bill was introduced by Lars Klingbeil’s finance ministry; the first version (Referentenentwurf) appeared on 3 March 2026, and the cabinet approved the Regierungsentwurf on 12 August.

The key innovation is a new administrative procedure for the Sicherstellung and Einziehung of assets. The Zoll gets the right to provisionally seize (sicherstellen) an item “an deren rechtmäßiger Herkunft begründete Zweifel bestehen” — that is, where there are reasonable doubts about the lawfulness of its origin. The government statement calls this a “suspicious wealth order”. A court decides on the final Einziehung.

Until now the logic ran the other way: investigators had to prove that assets came from crime. The new mechanism shifts the explanation onto the owner.

Who is affected

This is a bill, not a rule in force. The Bundesrat and the Bundestag are still ahead — wording and thresholds may still change

The government statements of 12 August do not name a value threshold. The first version of the bill referred to assets of from €100,000 — we quote this figure from an analysis of the Referentenentwurf, not from the official press release, and recommend checking it against the final text of the law.

Beyond seizure, the bill also restructures the Zoll itself: six directorates are merged into two divisions, AI-based data analysis, drones and biometric matching are added, and the Financial Intelligence Unit at the Zoll is strengthened.

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What to do already now

The practical conclusion is simple: documents on the origin of expensive items should be at hand. Purchase contract, invoice, bank statement, deed of gift, inheritance declaration, proof of a transfer from abroad — anything that links the asset to a legal source of money.

This is not paranoia but ordinary paperwork hygiene: during a Sicherstellung time works against the owner, and obtaining documents after the fact is always more expensive.

The risk of overreach is real — “reasonable doubts” is a matter of judgement, and it will be interpreted by people. A dispute with an authority costs money and time, so it makes sense to check in advance whether your Rechtsschutzversicherung covers administrative disputes: the scope depends heavily on the tariff, and many tariffs exclude cases about the origin of assets.