Amazon margin scheme: VAT on used goods under section 25a UStG

You buy used goods from private persons and sell them on Amazon? Then the margin scheme (Differenzbesteuerung) can apply: VAT is due only on the amount by which your selling price exceeds your purchase price (section 25a(3) UStG). The law does not tie this to a sales channel but to you as a reseller and to how you bought the goods. For sales to other EU countries there is a special rule.

Last updated: October 27, 2026

In brief

Conditions: You are a reseller, you bought the goods in the EU with no VAT owed or under the margin scheme, and they are not gemstones or precious metals (section 25a(1) UStG). Goods supplied to you as a tax-exempt intra-Community supply are excluded (section 25a(7) no. 1(a) UStG).
Tax: on the difference between selling and purchase price, at the general rate (section 25a(3) and (5) UStG).
Invoice: no separately stated VAT, but the note "Gebrauchtgegenstände/Sonderregelung" (section 14a(6) UStG).
EU sales: section 3c UStG and the exemption for intra-Community supplies are excluded under the margin scheme (section 25a(7) no. 3 UStG).
Records: your records must show the selling prices, the purchase prices and the tax bases (section 25a(6) UStG).

May you use the margin scheme on Amazon?

Section 25a UStG covers supplies of movable physical goods when all three conditions are met (section 25a(1) UStG):

You are a reseller. That is someone who trades in movable physical goods on a commercial basis or sells such goods at public auction in their own name.
The goods were supplied to you within the EU, and for that supply no VAT was owed or the supplier applied the margin scheme.
The goods are not gemstones or precious metals (by the customs tariff positions the law names).

The margin scheme does not apply if you acquired the goods intra-Community and the exemption for intra-Community supplies was applied to the supply to you in another EU country (section 25a(7) no. 1(a) UStG). So what decides it is your purchase document, not the platform. The details, such as who counts as a supplier, opting out and the total margin, are in eBay margin scheme; they apply to Amazon sales in the same way because the law does not distinguish by sales channel. This page does not repeat them; it shows what an Amazon seller should check.

Which setting or label Amazon itself provides for the margin scheme, you learn from Amazon. Amazon's help page on the VAT calculation service does not mention the margin scheme, so this page relies on the law.

How do you work out the tax?

The tax is not calculated on the selling price but on the difference; the VAT itself is not part of the tax base (section 25a(3) UStG). The general rate applies (section 25a(5) UStG), which is 19 percent (section 12(1) UStG).

An example with invented figures:

Step	Example
Purchase price (from a private person)	€30.00
Selling price on Amazon	€49.90
Difference	€19.90
Tax base: 19.90 divided by 1.19	€16.72
VAT: 19 percent of the tax base	€3.18

If the selling price is not above the purchase price, for example purchase €60.00 and sale €45.00, there is no tax base for that item. Instead of the single-item difference you can use the total difference if the purchase price of the goods is up to €750: you compare the sum of selling prices with the sum of purchase prices of a tax period (section 25a(4) UStG).

What must you record?

Your records must show the selling prices, the purchase prices and the tax bases. If you also apply the general rules next to the margin scheme, you keep separate records (section 25a(6) UStG). So keep the purchase document for every item; how long is in Keeping records: retention periods and rules. If you sell both new goods with input VAT deduction and used goods, keep the two groups apart.

What does the invoice look like?

For supplies under the margin scheme the invoice must carry the note "Gebrauchtgegenstände/Sonderregelung", and the rule on separately stated VAT does not apply (section 14a(6) UStG). What an Amazon invoice contains otherwise is in Amazon VAT invoice for German sellers.

What applies to sales to other EU countries?

For goods under the margin scheme, the OSS is not the route: the supply is excluded from the distance-sales rule (section 3c(5) no. 3 UStG), and section 25a(7) no. 3 UStG excludes the application of section 3c and the exemption for intra-Community supplies under the margin scheme. So the margin does not belong in the OSS return. The supply takes place where the transport or dispatch begins (section 3(6) sentence 1 UStG); if it begins in Germany, you pay the tax on the margin in Germany, even if the customer lives in another EU country. How to report new goods sold to private customers in other EU countries is in OSS for Amazon sellers.

Which mistakes come up often?

Selling new goods from a wholesaler under the margin scheme. If the wholesaler taxed the supply to you under the general rules, so neither with no VAT owed nor under the margin scheme, the condition of section 25a(1) no. 2 UStG is missing.
Stating VAT on the invoice. Under the margin scheme the rule on separately stated VAT does not apply (section 14a(6) UStG).
Selling without a purchase document. Without a purchase price you cannot show the difference; the recording duty applies to every item.
Putting margin-scheme sales into the OSS return. Section 3c UStG is excluded under the margin scheme.
Mixing both regimes. Normally taxed and margin-scheme sales need separate records.

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Frequently asked questions

Does the margin scheme apply on Amazon too? The law does not tie it to a sales channel but to the conditions in section 25a(1) UStG: reseller, purchase with no VAT owed or under the margin scheme, no gemstones or precious metals. Goods supplied to you as a tax-exempt intra-Community supply are excluded (section 25a(7) no. 1(a) UStG).

How high is the tax? The general rate of 19 percent on the difference between selling and purchase price, with the VAT not part of the tax base (section 25a(3) and (5) UStG).

May I state VAT on the invoice? No, the rule on separately stated VAT does not apply; the invoice carries "Gebrauchtgegenstände/Sonderregelung" (section 14a(6) UStG).

Do margin-scheme goods belong in the OSS return? No. Section 3c UStG is excluded under the margin scheme (section 25a(7) no. 3 UStG, section 3c(5) no. 3 UStG).

Which records do I need? Records with selling prices, purchase prices and tax bases (section 25a(6) UStG), so the purchase document for every item.