Tag: Germany

Hermes wants VAT exemption for consumer parcels

Posted by | Dec 12, 2007 | |

German parcels carrier Hermes Logistik has officially applied to the German finance ministry for VAT exemption for its consumer parcels service in order to match the status of Deutsche Post and reduce a 17pct cost disadvantage.

Hermes said that in the market segment for parcels up to 20kg it currently has to charge VAT while Deutsche Post has VAT exemption on the grounds that it provides a universal postal service. But Hermes said its consumer parcels service is effectively a “universal service” since it provides nationwide coverage through its 13,500 ParcelShops and home delivery network.

“The one-sided exemption of Deutsche Post from VAT is not in line with European law or the principle of neutral taxation,” declared managing director Hanjo Schneider. “The resulting disadvantages for other market participants, especially for pricing, are massive and lead to unacceptable competitive distortion.”

The European Commission is already investigating Deutsche Post’s VAT exemption, and German chancellor Angela Merkel also said it needed to be examined following the decision in favour of compulsory minimum wages in the German postal market from January 2008 onwards.

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Germany plans to limit D.Post tax privileges-paper

Posted by | Dec 11, 2007 | |

Germany’s Economy Ministry plans to curtail the tax privileges of Deutsche Post DPWGn.DE so that only postage stamps will be exempt from value added tax (VAT), a German newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Competitors of Germany’s biggest mail delivery company have complained that Deutsche Post has an unfair advantage over them because it is the only firm which has enjoyed sweeping VAT exemption privileges.

According to internal Economy Ministry documents obtained by Financial Times Deutschland newspaper, the ministry plans to help level the playing field by limiting Deutsche Post’s VAT exemption to postage stamps.

This means that mass mailings without postage stamps and other postal services will no longer be exempt from VAT.

Deutsche Post loses its domestic mail monopoly next year.

However, German government plans for a minimum wage in the postal sector have made rivals rethink their challenges to Deutsche Post when its monopoly ends.

One of Deutsche Post’s main rivals, mail delivery company PIN Group, said last week it will have to cut more than 1,000 of its 9,000 jobs in Germany due to Berlin’s plans to put a floor under wages in the sector.

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DPD opens parcel shops at Staples stores

Posted by | Dec 11, 2007 | |

DPD has opened parcel shops at 56 stores of the office supply chain Staples in Germany to further develop its B2C business and broaden its product portfolio. Staples previously cooperated with GLS.

Staples expects to enhance its product portfolio with the new parcel shops, the DVZ transport newspaper reported. Managing director Sönke Feuerherm said Staples could offer customers nationwide parcel deliveries at attractive prices. The price is based on the box size rather than on weight.

“The Staples stores provide first-class locations, good service quality and high customer orientation”, DPD CEO Hans Fluri was cited as saying. The parcel company expected to increase its competitiveness with the new cooperation.

According to the DVZ, DPD agreed a deal with Staples for lower prices than had previously been the case with GLS.

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TNT to look at all options 'very thoroughly' if minimum wage adopted in Germany

Posted by | Dec 10, 2007 | |

TNT NV will look ‘very thoroughly’ at all options, should the German government approve the postal minimum wage that is reportedly pushing Axel Springer AG to consider winding up its mail services unit PIN Group by Christmas.

The upper house of the German parliament, in which German states are represented, is likely to decide on the minimum wage at its meeting scheduled for December 20.

‘If the minimum wage is adopted in Germany then we will look at our options very thoroughly, everything is open. And we will include the winding up of PIN in our option finding or scenario thinking, once the fact is confirmed,’ TNT spokesman Pieter Schaffels said.

This morning, the Financial Times Deutschland reported that majority shareholder Axel Springer plans to wind up its mail services unit PIN by Christmas and write-down 600 mln eur due to the bankruptcy.

The German government recently decided to expand minimum wages to 8-9.80 eur per hour agreed by services union ver.di and an employer’s association dominated by incumbent Deutsche Post World Net AG to the whole industry, challenging margins of Deutsche Post’s competitors.

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TNT Express upgrades Clinical Express

Posted by | Dec 10, 2007 | |

TNT Express Germany said it has optimized its product range “Clinical Express Network“ by introducing additional services for night-time delivery of human and veterinary samples for laboratories and other customers according to the “UN 3373” norm.

The service includes worldwide delivery with a range of time options, Saturday delivery and late collections, and free packaging. The service also includes next-morning delivery free of charge for orders made until 2 p.m. the previous day.

According to legal standards, all diagnostic samples need a package corresponding to the packing regulation IATA/ADR P650. The packaging solution developed in Sarstedt was tested and approved by the German federal agency for material research und control (BAM).

TNT said it provides customers with the packaging solution “medpak CEN” free of charge including external and secondary packaging. The external packaging is annotated with all the stipulated declarations and labels, e.g. “UN3373” label. This also contributes to the automatic sorting of shipments within the standard network of TNT Express.

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