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You supply goods or services to customers in other EU states

Handling VAT on business within the EU

Determine the place of supply and who owes the tax, check the acquisition and distance-selling thresholds, have your customer's VAT ID confirmed, report your EU sales in the recapitulative statement or through the One-Stop-Shop, and reclaim foreign input VAT: 9 steps.

Start here: German place of supply, reverse charge, EU acquisitions

Understand: place of supply, reverse charge, recapitulative statement

  1. Step 1 of 9
    CoursePaid individually61 min

    German place of supply, reverse charge, EU acquisitions

    Where a service is taxed is decided by § 3a UStG: for a business customer at the customer's seat, for a consumer in principle at the supplier's seat, with exceptions for land, events, restaurants and electronic services, including the 10,000 euro threshold. Who then owes the tax is governed by § 13b: foreign suppliers, construction work, building cleaning, scrap, mobile phones from 5,000 euros. Plus the intra-Community acquisition from the buyer's side and the 12,500 euro acquisition threshold. Three modules with case studies built on the statute.
  2. Step 2 of 9
    CoursePaid individually62 min

    German annual VAT return, EC sales list and invoices

    The annual return under § 18(3) UStG is due seven months after the year ends, or with a tax adviser by the end of February of the year after next, and the balancing payment falls due one month after receipt. Intra-EU supplies are only exempt if the recapitulative statement reaches the Federal Central Tax Office by the 25th day, monthly from 50,000 euros per quarter. Plus the ten mandatory invoice details and the small-amount invoice up to 250 euros. Three modules, each with a fully worked case study.

Compute: acquisition threshold, distance-selling threshold and reporting period of the recapitulative statement

  1. Step 3 of 9
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    German acquisition threshold — is your EU purchase taxable in Germany?

    The acquisition threshold only protects certain buyers: businesses making exclusively exempt supplies with no input VAT recovery, farmers and foresters on the flat-rate scheme, and legal persons that are not in business. For them there is no intra-Community acquisition as long as their EU purchases neither exceeded EUR 12,500 last year nor are expected to exceed it this year. The threshold falls away if the buyer opts out (including by using its VAT ID) and never applies to new vehicles or excise goods.
  2. Step 4 of 9
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    EU distance sales from Germany — does the EUR 10,000 threshold apply?

    An intra-EU distance sale is in principle taxed where the goods arrive. It stays taxable in Germany if you are established in a single member state and your EU distance sales, together with electronic, telecoms and broadcasting services to consumers abroad, neither exceeded EUR 10,000 last year nor exceed it this year.
  3. Step 5 of 9
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    German EC Sales List — monthly, quarterly or yearly?

    The default is monthly, by the 25th day after the month ends. You may file quarterly as long as your intra-EU supplies of goods exceed EUR 50,000 neither in the current quarter nor in any of the four previous quarters. Cross-border B2B services are reported quarterly.

File: VAT ID confirmation, recapitulative statement, One-Stop-Shop, input VAT refund

  1. Step 6 of 9
    FormFree10 min

    Confirming an EU customer's VAT number in Germany — before you invoice

    The qualified confirmation at the BZSt (§ 18e no. 1 UStG) checks your EU customer's VAT number, name and address — at the time of supply only, never retroactively, and with nothing sent in writing. Step-by-step guide, evidence, invoicing deadline and worked example.
  2. Step 7 of 9
    FormFree20 min

    German EC sales list (Zusammenfassende Meldung)

    Due on the 25th to the Federal Central Tax Office, not the tax office: why goods are reported monthly and services quarterly, how the 50,000 euro threshold is tested across five quarters, and what applies when you cross it mid-quarter.
  3. Step 8 of 9
    FormFree40 min

    German One-Stop-Shop (OSS): reporting EU distance sales to the BZSt

    Above EUR 10,000 of distance sales and electronic services to consumers in other EU countries, the destination country's VAT applies. The One-Stop-Shop spares a registration there: notify before the quarter starts, file and pay by the end of the following month (§ 18j UStG). Guide and worked example.
  4. Step 9 of 9
    FormFree60 min

    Reclaiming VAT paid in other EU countries from Germany

    Businesses established in Germany reclaim VAT paid elsewhere in the EU electronically through the BZSt online portal (§ 18g UStG) — by 30 September of the following year, from EUR 400, or EUR 50 for an annual period. Who checks, who decides, step-by-step guide and worked example.

The other paths

A different procedure, the same principle: the three pillars in order.

Read in German