This includes clothing, appliances, house repairs, furniture, and even car repairs. If you're buying services, this tax will be a separate item on your bill, but if you're buying goods it will usually just be part of the price. Tourists can avoid this tax. Before you buy anything make sure the store has the proper forms, which you can then get stamped by customs officials at your point of departure from Germany and probably receive a refund right on the spot. Credit cards purchases and extended payment terms, once a rarity, now are a part of the German economy, but mainly in the larger stores.
Personal checks are virtually nonexistent.
An increasingly popular method of payment is to use a Eurocheque card to have the charge deducted directly from a bank account. Most expatriates have German bank accounts so they can do this sort of thing. The borders with the former East German state of Saxony and the Czech Republic province of Bohemia are lined with companies that make china, crystal, ceramics and cutlery items. Many of them invite visitors to take a tour and shop at the factory outlets, which often accept credit cards and U.S. dollars. The Crystal Road covers 150 miles, from Neustadt a.d.