Check your OSS return before filing: a checklist

Before you send the OSS return, look at nine things: the quarter, the countries, the rate for each country, the euro rate, your domestic sales, the marketplace's role, corrections for earlier quarters, whether the quarter's data is complete, and the payment. It takes ten minutes. A return the portal rejects costs more, and some rejections are not your fault at all.

Last updated: October 27, 2026

In brief

What the return contains: your VAT ID and the tax period, then the sales separately for each EU country, split by tax rate, in euros (BZSt).
The rate is the destination country's. It is the rate of the member state where the sale is taxed, not the German rate (BZSt).
The exchange rate is one fixed day: the European Central Bank rate of the last day of the quarter, not the daily rate of each order (BZSt, section 16(6) UStG).
With no sales you still file a nil return.
Not always in your hands: rejections can come from the portal, as with the first returns in 2021 and the returns for the first quarter of 2024.

The checklist

Quarter and VAT ID. The tax period is the calendar quarter (section 16(1d) UStG). Check that you report the right quarter and that the VAT ID is the one you are registered with. Deadlines: April 30, July 31, October 31, January 31.
Every country with sales is in. The details are given separately for each EU member state in which you sold to consumers. Count them: does the list of countries match your sales reports?
The rate fits the country and the date. Each country has its own rate, and sales are split by rate. Rates change: Estonia raised its standard rate from 20 to 22 percent on January 1, 2024 and to 24 percent on July 1, 2025. On January 1, 2024 the Czech Republic merged its reduced rates of 10 and 15 percent into one rate of 12 percent. The rates are listed in OSS VAT rates of the EU countries. The BZSt links an overview of current rates on its OSS page.
Amounts in euros, at the right rate. If you sold in another currency, convert with the ECB rate of the last day of the quarter. If there is no rate for that day, the next day's rate applies (BZSt, section 16(6) sentences 4 and 5 UStG). This is a special rule for the OSS. For ordinary VAT, the monthly average rates published by the Federal Ministry of Finance apply as a rule; the tax office may allow the daily rate (section 16(6) sentences 1 and 3 UStG).
Your domestic sales are not in it. Sales to consumers in Germany belong in the normal VAT return. The exception is domestic sales made under the special scheme, for example through an electronic interface (BZSt). More in OSS return: which sales to report.
Who is the supplier on the marketplace? A marketplace is treated as the supplier when it facilitates a supply to consumers by a business not established in the EU and the goods are shipped within the EU (section 3(3a) sentence 1 UStG). If you are established in Germany and ship from a warehouse in the EU, the marketplace is not the supplier, you are. You then report your distance sales yourself. It is different for goods shipped from a non-EU country to EU consumers in consignments of up to 150 euros: then the marketplace is treated as the supplier, even if you are established in Germany (section 3(3a) sentence 2 UStG). How Amazon calculates the tax is in Amazon VAT Calculation Service and the OSS.
Refunds and credit notes. If they relate to sales of earlier quarters, they do not go into the old return but into the next one as a correction. The form has its own section for this, split by tax period and country (BZSt). Corrections are possible within three years after the end of the period (section 18j(4) UStG). More in OSS returns and negative sales and Correct an OSS return.
The quarter's data is complete. A seller reports in the JTL forum (November 18, 2025) that their monthly data was read on the 5th of the month, when the Amazon documents of the last two days were still missing; only on the 7th were all booking data of the previous month processed. The filing deadline runs to the end of the month. Wait to send until all reports of the quarter are there.
The payment is ready. The tax must have reached the Bundeskasse by the end of the month, not just have been transferred (BZSt). How to pay is in Paying the OSS return.

If you had no sales in the quarter, a tax return, the nil return, is still due on the dates.

Why the portal may reject a return

Not every rejection is your mistake.

2021: For the first quarterly return a tax service provider writes that the BZSt rejected "thousands" of returns as faulty, "mostly for reasons that could not be understood". It names technical problems on the BZSt side as the cause.
First quarter 2024: On upload the error said the rates did not match the country. According to a tax advisory firm's report (April 11, 2024), the portal did not yet know the new rates of Estonia (22 percent) and the Czech Republic (12 percent reduced). The BZSt then updated them, the firm says; the errors occurred from April 1 to 16, 2024, and filing was possible until April 30.

For you this means: if your figures are right and a rejection still comes, check whether the BZSt reports something about rates or the portal before you start searching. How to read the error message is in OSS return rejected: what the error message means.

If you find a mistake after sending

You do not correct in the return you filed, but in a following return, in the section for corrections (BZSt), within three years (section 18j(4) UStG). The BZSt gives an example: a correction of minus 30 euros for country X and minus 80 euros for country Y in the next return. How it works is in Correct an OSS return.

How VAT GPT helps

VAT GPT is the tax software for Amazon and eBay sellers in Germany: your OSS return first, then VAT, EÜR, trade tax and income tax, calculated and filed in one place. VAT GPT is not tax advice.

You upload your Amazon and eBay reports as CSV. VAT GPT breaks the sales down by country and calculates the OSS return for all EU countries.
The rates per country come from one central rate file in which each rate has a valid-from date.
Before sending, VAT GPT shows an overview "OSS VAT by country": net amount, VAT rate and VAT amount for each country. That is the place for your check with the list above.
Sending is possible once the VAT ID and tax number are validly formed and you have confirmed that you reviewed the data. With VAT GPT Pro you send the return to the BZSt.

There is a Free plan and Go with 30 days free and all Pro features. Try it for free now

Frequently asked questions

What do I check before sending the OSS return? The quarter and VAT ID, every country with sales, the rate for each country, the euro rate, domestic sales, the marketplace's role, corrections, whether the data is complete, and the payment. The checklist above goes through them in order.

Which exchange rate applies to foreign currency? The ECB rate of the last day of the quarter; if there is none, that of the next day (BZSt). See OSS: converting foreign currency.

Do I file a return with no sales? Yes, the nil return (BZSt).

Can I withdraw a wrong return? You correct it in a later return, within three years (section 18j(4) UStG).

Can my tax adviser check the return? Yes, and they can file it too. What to agree is in OSS return filed by your tax adviser.