Scan receipts and read invoices with AI: what applies in Germany?

Do you scan or photograph receipts and want to keep only the electronic copy? You may, if the reproduction matches the original visually (§ 147 (2) AO). If an AI reads the amounts, you check the result yourself: you then also keep the full text after verification and correction (GoBD margin no. 130). Structured e-invoices are not a scan case.

Last updated: 27 October 2026

In short

Retention: Accounting vouchers eight years, books and records ten years, received business letters six years (§ 147 (3) AO).
Paper: You may destroy it after image capture, unless it must be kept as an original (GoBD margin no. 140).
E-invoice: Since 1 January 2025 you must be able to receive e-invoices; a simple PDF is not one (BMF FAQ).

Scanning receipts: what does the tax office allow?

The duty comes from § 147 (1) AO: accounting vouchers, received commercial or business letters and other documents relevant for taxation must be kept in an orderly way. Under paragraph 2 they may also be kept as a reproduction on an image carrier or another data carrier. The condition is that this complies with the principles of proper bookkeeping, that the reproduction matches the vouchers visually, is available at any time during the whole retention period, can be made readable without delay and can be machine-analysed.

How this looks in practice is set out by the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) in the GoBD. According to margin no. 130, the image capture can be made with all kinds of devices, for example smartphones, multifunction devices or scan lines, if the requirements of the letter are met. The other points at a glance:

Question	Answer of the GoBD	Reference
Do I need a procedure description?	The procedure must be documented; an organisational instruction is recommended: who may capture, when, which documents, whether visual or content match is required, how the quality control for legibility and completeness works and how errors are logged.	margin no. 136
Must colours be preserved?	Full colour reproduction is required where the colour has evidential value, for example negative amounts in red.	margin no. 137
Do I need a signature or time stamp?	Not for tax purposes.	margin no. 138
Which document do I keep working with?	After the capture, further processing may only be done with the electronic document.	margin no. 139
May I throw the paper away?	Yes, unless it must be kept as an original under other rules. Whether you also keep originals of documents whose evidential value is not preserved electronically is your decision.	margin no. 140

The retention period is eight years for accounting vouchers, six years for received commercial or business letters and other documents, and ten years for books and records. It starts at the end of the calendar year in which the voucher was created (§ 147 (3) and (4) AO).

Reading invoices with AI: what do you check yourself?

An AI that reads invoices gives you a suggestion for date, amounts, tax rate and category. For tax purposes, however, the suggestion does not count – the voucher does: you only have the input VAT deduction if you hold an invoice issued under §§ 14 and 14a UStG (§ 15 (1) no. 1 sentence 2 UStG). And the GoBD require that the full text obtained by OCR is kept after verification and correction (margin no. 130).

So after every read, check that the details on the voucher are complete and the values taken over are right. An invoice must contain these details (§ 14 (4) UStG):

Mandatory detail	§ 14 (4) sentence 1 UStG
Full name and address of the supplier and the recipient	no. 1
Tax number or VAT identification number of the supplier	no. 2
Date of issue	no. 3
Consecutive, unique invoice number	no. 4
Quantity and type of the goods or extent and type of the service	no. 5
Date of the supply or service	no. 6
Consideration, broken down by tax rates and exemptions	no. 7
Tax rate and tax amount, or for an exemption a reference to it	no. 8

For invoices up to €250 in total, fewer details are enough: name and address of the supplier, date of issue, quantity and type of the goods or extent and type of the service, consideration and tax amount in one sum, and the tax rate or the reference to an exemption (§ 33 UStDV). This does not apply to invoices for supplies within the meaning of §§ 3c, 6a and 13b UStG.

E-invoices: why they are read, not recognised

Since 1 January 2025 an e-invoice exists only if it is issued, transmitted and received in a structured electronic format and allows electronic processing. A simple PDF no longer falls under this and is an "other invoice" (BMF FAQ). The formats common in Germany, XRechnung and ZUGFeRD from version 2.0.1, meet the requirements, except for the MINIMUM and BASIC-WL profiles (BMF FAQ).

For you this means:

Receiving: All domestic businesses have had to be able to receive e-invoices since 1 January 2025. The BMF provides no exceptions; small business owners (Kleinunternehmer) must also be able to do so (BMF FAQ).
Issuing: For supplies up to the end of 2026, invoices may still be sent on paper or, with the recipient's consent, in another electronic format such as a simple PDF as a transition. For supplies of 2027 this applies only if the issuer's total turnover in the previous year was no more than €800,000 (§ 27 (38) UStG).
Keeping: Incoming electronic invoices must be kept in the format in which you received them (GoBD margin no. 131).
Hybrid formats: In a ZUGFeRD invoice, the data in the structured part (XML) is the leading part. If it differs from the image part, the structured part applies (BMF FAQ).

So you do not have to read an e-invoice by text recognition: its amounts, tax rates and dates are in the file as data. You only need text recognition for paper vouchers, photos and simple PDFs.

Which mistakes come up often?

Trusting the AI blindly. The input VAT deduction depends on the voucher, not on the read result. Compare date, amounts, tax rate and issuer with the original.
Throwing the original away too early. Paper may be destroyed after capture (GoBD margin no. 140), but only once the image is legible and complete (with colours where they have evidential value, GoBD margin no. 137) and no other law requires the original.
Treating an e-invoice as an image. You keep a ZUGFeRD PDF as you received it (GoBD margin no. 131); anyone who only prints and photographs it loses the structured data.
Taking a simple PDF for an e-invoice. Since 2025 it is an other invoice (BMF FAQ).
Mixing up the retention periods. Accounting vouchers eight years, not six (§ 147 (3) AO).
Booking incomplete invoices. If mandatory details under § 14 (4) UStG are missing, the input VAT deduction may be at risk; clarify this with the issuer.

How VAT GPT helps you with this

You upload your invoices and receipts as a photo or PDF; the AI reads the data and assigns a category. VAT GPT accepts files as PDF, JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP, WebP, TIFF and XML. In three steps:

Upload: your invoices as an income or expense voucher. VAT GPT reads a ZUGFeRD PDF or an XRechnung XML straight from the file, without AI, if the structured data is usable. The AI reads everything else.
Check: VAT GPT takes over date, gross, net and tax amount, tax rate, currency, country of the supplier and category. Vouchers with low confidence are marked "Needs review"; a note also appears if the recognised tax type does not match the chosen field (Germany or OSS). In the edit window you correct the values.
Use further: the confirmed vouchers become the advance VAT return, EÜR and other returns; with VAT GPT Pro you send them via ELSTER. In the data export you get your vouchers as original files by year, quarter and month, plus overview tables and a DATEV file for your tax adviser.

There are Free (basic features, free of charge; the AI reads up to 100 invoices per month), Go (30 days free with all Pro features) and Pro (€49 per month or €444 per year, with unlimited AI invoices), each including VAT. Try for Free Now

Frequently asked questions

May I scan receipts and throw the paper away? Yes, if the reproduction matches the original visually and the GoBD requirements are met. The paper may be destroyed unless another law requires the original (§ 147 (2) AO; GoBD margin nos. 130 and 140).

Is a photo with my phone enough? Yes. The GoBD expressly name smartphones as a permitted device if the requirements are met (margin no. 130).

How long must I keep receipts? Accounting vouchers eight years, received commercial or business letters and other documents six years, books ten years. The period starts at the end of the calendar year in which the voucher was created (§ 147 (3) and (4) AO).

Do I need a signature or time stamp for scanned receipts? Not for tax purposes (GoBD margin no. 138).

Is a PDF an e-invoice? Only if it contains a structured invoice file, as with ZUGFeRD. A simple PDF has been an other invoice since 2025 (BMF FAQ).

Do I have to check an AI's invoice reading myself? Yes. The AI gives a suggestion; what is to be kept is the full text after verification and correction (GoBD margin no. 130), and the input VAT deduction depends on the invoice (§ 15 (1) no. 1 UStG).