Annual VAT return for Amazon and eBay sellers

The year is over, your VAT returns are filed, and now there is still the annual VAT return? It adds up your whole year: the prepayments from your VAT returns are credited, and what is left is a payment or a refund (section 18(3) UStG). You file it electronically, without a tax adviser by 31 July of the following year.

Last updated: 27 October 2026

In brief

What it is: the annual tax return, in which you calculate the tax for the calendar year yourself (section 18(3) UStG).
Prepayments: the sum of your VAT returns appears in the return as the prepayment amount due, including a special prepayment.
Result: a final payment is due one month after the return is received (section 18(4) UStG); a refund is paid out after approval.
EU sales: if you were not above 10,000 euros in the previous year and have not waived the limit, you enter distance sales to other EU countries up to the limit additionally in line 71 (with a waiver in line 72), and from the sale that takes you over the limit in line 75. If you were above it in the previous year, they all go in line 75.
Deadline: 31 July of the following year, with a tax adviser the end of February of the year after next (section 149 AO).

What does the annual VAT return contain?

The return is built like the VAT return, only for a whole year: you enter your taxable sales, the tax you owe as the recipient of a service, and the deductible input VAT. That gives the tax for the year. From it you deduct the prepayment amount due, the sum of the prepayments and surpluses you reported or the tax office assessed. Whether you have already paid the prepayments or the surplus has already been paid out does not matter for this.

The line numbers in this text come from the ELSTER guide to the form for the year 2025. Check them against the form of the year you file.

How do you get from the reports to the return?

Your Amazon and eBay reports supply the totals. Here is how to get them.

Amazon: In Seller Central (German interface), go to Berichte → Versand durch Amazon (Reports → Fulfilment by Amazon), then in the left menu to the section Steuern (Taxes) and click Amazon Umsatzsteuer-Transaktionsbericht (the Amazon VAT Transactions Report, AVTR). One report may cover at most 93 consecutive days, and the end date must not be in the current month. For a year you therefore need at least four reports, for example January to March, April to June, July to September and October to December. Reports are available on the third day of the following month. Each report contains the goods transactions of the report month and the fee transactions of the previous month, so the fees for December are in the report that covers January. The column ACTIVITY_PERIOD shows which month a fee belongs to. More in Download the Amazon VAT report (AVTR).

eBay: In the Verkäufer-Cockpit Pro (Seller Hub Pro), go to the tab Zahlungen (Payments), choose Berichte (Reports) in the left menu and Transaktionsbericht (transaction report) in the download section. Under Typ choose the transaction type, under Start and Ende the period, then Bericht erstellen (generate report). The invoices for your seller fees are under Berichte on the tab Rechnungen (invoices), listed by month. More in Download the eBay transaction report.

Where do German sales, EU sales and fees go?

What	Where in the return (form 2025)
German sales at 19 %	Line 22, as a net amount in whole euros
German sales at 7 %	Line 25
Distance sales to other EU countries up to the 10,000 euro limit, previous year not above 10,000 euros, no waiver	included in the turnover and additionally in line 71
The same distance sales after waiving the limit (section 3c(4) sentence 2 UStG)	Line 72
Distance sales above 10,000 euros in the current year	Line 75, from the sale that caused the limit to be exceeded
Distance sales if the previous year was above 10,000 euros	all in line 75
Service from an EU business without tax on the invoice	Line 65, the input VAT on it in line 83
Input VAT from invoices with German VAT, such as goods purchased	Line 79

For Amazon fees the case depends on the invoice: with German VAT, the input VAT belongs in line 79; without tax from an EU business, lines 65 and 83 apply. The decision and its sources are in Deduct Amazon fees. How the figures get into the VAT returns is shown in VAT return for Amazon sellers.

When is the deadline, and who files?

Businesses under the regular scheme file the annual VAT return for the calendar year electronically (section 18(3) UStG). Small businesses generally do not have to file one; there are exceptions, for example if you owe tax as the recipient of a service or the tax office asks you to.

The deadline is in section 149 AO: seven months after the end of the year, so 31 July. If a tax adviser prepares the return, it ends on the last day of February of the second following year, unless the tax office asks for the return earlier (section 149(4) AO). For the year 2025 that was 31 July 2026; with a tax adviser it is Monday, 1 March 2027, because 28 February 2027 is a Sunday (section 108(3) AO). More on the deadline in Annual VAT return deadline, on the route in Annual VAT return online.

Which totals do you compare with your VAT returns?

Before you send it, put the totals of your VAT returns next to the annual return:

Sales: the sum of key figures 81 and 86 of all VAT returns matches lines 22 and 25. Small differences come from rounding to whole euros.
Input VAT: the sum of key figures 66 and 67 matches lines 79 and 83.
Reverse charge: base and tax from key figures 46 and 47 are in line 65.
Prepayment amount due: add up the reported amounts of all VAT returns (where the tax office assessed a different amount, the assessed one), including the special prepayment; it belongs in line 119.
Refunds: customer refunds reduce the turnover in the period in which they happened.
EU distance sales: compare the totals of your distance sales to other EU countries with lines 71 and 75. The OSS return itself is a separate return to the Federal Central Tax Office.

An example with made-up numbers: you sold 180,000 euros net at 19 percent (34,200 euros of tax) and 12,000 euros net at 7 percent (840 euros). The tax on your sales adds up to 35,040 euros. The deductible input VAT is 20,100 euros. The annual result is 14,940 euros. Your VAT returns give a prepayment amount due of 14,700 euros. A final payment of 240 euros remains, due one month after the return is received.

How VAT GPT helps

VAT GPT is the tax software for Amazon and eBay sellers in Germany: your OSS return first, then every other tax you owe, calculated and filed in one place. For the annual return that means:

You upload your Amazon and eBay reports as a CSV or Excel file.
VAT GPT creates the annual VAT return and deducts the VAT returns you sent successfully through VAT GPT; the prepayment amount due appears as its own line in the return.
You check the result; it shows "Total VAT to pay" or "Total VAT to receive as a refund". With VAT GPT Pro you send the return through ELSTER.

There is Free, Go (30 days free with all Pro features) and Pro (€49 per month or €444 per year, including VAT). Try for free now

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to file an annual VAT return as an Amazon or eBay seller? Yes, if you are taxed under the regular scheme. As a small business, generally not.

What happens to my VAT returns? They are credited as the prepayment amount due. The difference gives a payment or a refund.

When do I have to pay the balance? One month after the return is received (section 18(4) UStG).

What about my EU sales? Distance sales to other EU countries belong in line 71 up to 10,000 euros if you were not above 10,000 euros in the previous year and have not waived the limit (with a waiver in line 72); above that, and after a previous year above 10,000 euros, in line 75. You file the OSS return separately with the Federal Central Tax Office.

By when do I have to file? By 31 July of the following year, with a tax adviser by the end of February of the year after next (section 149 AO).