Sales Tax (VAT) in Germany
- You are planning to deliver products in Germany
- You already sold goods in Germany
- You are planning to render services in Germany
- You already provided services in Germany
You may need a German VAT Identification Number (German VAT ID).
Most likely, you may be required to report sales tax (VAT) to the German tax authorities.
For your foreign company or foreign business, you may need to complete the tax registration with the German Finanzamt (tax authorities).
Perhaps you've already been contacted by the newly formed tax authority Finanzamt Berlin International.
Situations requiring a VAT registration in Germany
- Sale of goods shipped from German warehouse to German address
- Deliveries from warehouse in Germany to consumers in Germany or EU
- Sales activities involving a consignment warehouse from which your customer picks goods on a just-in-time basis, even if the warehouse is operated by a third-party logistics provider.
- As the importer of record, you clear goods shipped from overseas through customs and pay import VAT, and sell these products to other businesses and/or consumers in Germany or the EU.
- Tour operators organizing leisure or business travel in Germany
RIZZO & ASSOCIATES is a tax law firm offering VAT registration in Germany.
We are VAT representatives, preparing and filing your monthly VAT return.
In case you pay less than 7,500 EUR in VAT annually to the government, you are a quarterly VAT filer.
We offer initial tax advisory and accurate tax guidance so you meet your legal obligations and keep tax compliant.
Our VAT representation services at a glance
- VAT tax registration
- Application for German VAT ID
- Monthly VAT returns
- Quarterly VAT returns
- Annual VAT returns
- Review of VAT notices and VAT assessments
- Representation before the tax authorities
- Support with VAT tax field audits
- Petitions to object unlawful VAT assessments
- Litigation against unlawful VAT assessments before the Tax Courts (Finanzgericht) and Financial Supreme Court (Bundesfinanzhof)
Sales Tax (VAT) in EU for consumer sales (B2C)
In B2C distant sales of goods, VAT is owed on the basis of the destination of the consumer shipment.
Across the EU, a universal per-country delivery threshold of 10,000 EUR in sales annually was established. If you deliver goods to consumers in other EU countries from a German point of origin, you may remit the lower German VAT (19%) until your sales cross this delivery threshold in the destination country.
Once you cross the delivery threshold, a local VAT registration in the other EU member state is typically required. This can be avoided in B2C cases using the Import-One-Stop-Shop (IOSS) or One-Stop-Shop (OSS) schemes.
For example, a One-Stop-Shop (OSS) tax registration with the German tax authorities allows you to centrally report the VAT due on your B2C sales to all 27 EU member states. The OSS-EU VAT return must be filed and paid quarterly, regardless of how much VAT your business has collected. You can only participate in the OSS scheme from the 1st day of the quarter following your OSS tax registration.
Special reporting of EU VAT through MOSS (mini-one-stop-shop)
If your overseas company provides
- telecommunication services
- internet services (ISP)
- television and radio broadcasting
- digital services, e.g.
- software sales, including app downloads
- website hosting
- distance teaching/coaching
- online gaming
to consumers (B2C) located within any EU member state, you have VAT tax nexus.
This requires a tax registration in the MOSS scheme (mini-one-stop-shop).
If you engage in aforementioned sales activities, you must register and remit VAT returns even without having any branch or permanent establishment in the EU.
Formation of a German company with support by Liesegang & Partner mbB law firm
It’s worth your while to consider forming a German company to reduce your time to market entry. Until issuance of the tax number and VAT ID for your newly formed German company, it should only be a matter of a couple of weeks (3 up to 6 weeks, at the most, on average, it currently takes four weeks. Processing times vary by tax office.) The time for registering as a foreign business can be up to six months.
We can help with tax advisory, tax registration, accounting, annual closing, and tax compliance for a new German entity, for example a Limited Liability Company.
To form a new German company, please check the below information from our cooperation partner, Liesegang & Partner mbB law firm, the formation lawyers:
Limited Liability Company
a) GmbH
The basic fee of Liesegang & Partner for the formation of a GmbH is 2,050 EUR.
However, the final amount depends on your requirements. The following additional services might be appropriate:
- at least one shareholder has its registered seat not in Germany but abroad + EUR 750 net (not necessary if all shareholders are individuals)
- representation at the notarization +EUR 550 net
- support with a bank account +EUR 500 (Please mention that only the bank decides about the account opening, hence we couldn’t guarantee a success. Furthermore the banks usually request the involved persons to appear in person in order to verify their identity and they could charge own account opening fees.),
- bilingual formation documents in German/ English +EUR 500 net
- registering with the Transparency Register + EUR 250 net
- business registration at the trade office + EUR 300 net
The fees for notarization and Commercial Register, approx. another EUR 1.000 in total, are not included; they could be paid through the new GmbH after the notarization.
Please see the website of Liesegang & Partner to get an overview about all the services and fees in this regard:
https://shop.liesegang-partner.com/incorporation-german-gmbh.html
b) UG (haftungsbeschränkt)
The basic fee for the formation of an UG (haftungsbeschränkt) is 800 EUR net.
However, the final amount depends on your requirements. The following additional services might be appropriate:
- -at least one shareholder has its registered seat not in Germany but abroad. + EUR 480 net (not necessary if all shareholders are individuals)
- representation at the notarization +EUR 550 net
- bilingual formation documents in German/ English +EUR 300
- support with a bank account +EUR 500 (Please mention that only the bank decides about the account opening, hence we couldn’t guarantee a success. Furthermore the banks usually request the involved persons to appear in person in order to verify their identity and they could charge own account opening fees.)
- registering with the Transparency Register + EUR 250 net
- business registration at the trade office + EUR 300 net
Please see the website of Liesegang & Partner to get an overview about all the services and fees in this regard:
https://shop.liesegang-partner.com/company-formation-ug-germany.html
Your German company will nee a registered business address that can be used as its seat. If you don’t have a German address which you can use, you’ll have to rent at least a so-called shared office which costs approx. 180- 250 EUR net monthly + deposit. Liesegang & Partner will gladly recommend you an appropriate provider.
Engage us for VAT representation and tax preparation services
To sign-on as new client, simply fill in the engagement form on this website using the following link: https://rizzo-associates.de/en/#inquire
