eBay report CSV (orders report): from the report to your VAT and OSS returns

Got the eBay orders report as a CSV? Sort each row by dispatch and destination country: Germany to Germany goes into the advance VAT return, EU distance sales above the threshold into the OSS return, exports from Germany to outside the EU are tax-exempt (Kz 43).

Last updated: 27 October 2026

In short

File: the eBay orders report from Seller Hub, a CSV with semicolon separator and German header row.
Amounts: total and item price are gross (64,00 € for example); you work out the tax yourself.
Marketplace rule: a seller in Germany shipping from Germany usually stays the taxpayer (§ 3 (3a) UStG).

Which eBay report do I need?

eBay offers more than one download. As proof of which transactions eBay has taken over the VAT for, eBay names the report under My eBay, eBay account, Seller account, All transactions (with Seller Hub Pro: My eBay, Sell, report for all orders). VAT GPT expects the orders report (Orders Report): you recognise it by the column Verkaufsprotokollnummer in the header row. The separator is the semicolon and in practice the file has about 79 columns. That column tells VAT GPT that it is an eBay report.

Which columns matter?

Column	What you need it for
Verkaufsprotokollnummer	Marks the eBay report.
Artikelnummer	Item number; rows without an item number are not sales.
Angebotstitel	Listing title; VAT GPT derives the goods category from it when a reduced rate may apply in another EU country.
Versand nach - Land	The destination country, spelled out in German (for example Frankreich).
Artikelstandort in (Land)	The dispatch country as a country code (for example DE). It decides whether a sale belongs in the OSS return.
Verkauft für	Item price.
Verpackung und Versand	Shipping you charged the buyer.
Inklusive MwSt.-Satz	The tax rate included in the price, for example 19,00.
Vom Verkäufer eingezogene Steuer	Tax you collected.
Von eBay eingezogene Steuer	Tax eBay collected.
Gesamtbetrag	The gross amount of the row; 0,00 for cancelled orders.
Verkauft am	Sale date in the format 27-Feb-26 with German month abbreviations (for example Mär, Mai, Okt, Dez).
Transaktionsnummer	Unique number of the transaction; it lets you recognise a row again.

The real file starts with a blank line before the header row, an empty data line follows directly after the header, and at the end come a summary (number of sales records) and a line with the seller name. These are not sales; if you count them, your totals are wrong.

How does a row become a VAT return and an OSS return?

Gesamtbetrag is gross. So you calculate: net = total divided by (1 plus the tax rate of the country where the sale is taxable), tax = total minus net. Then you sort the row:

Dispatch country (Artikelstandort)	Destination country	Where the row belongs
Germany	Germany	In the German advance VAT return.
Germany	another EU country, private buyer	Above 10,000 euro (or if you waive the threshold): destination country's tax, via the OSS return if you take part in the OSS scheme (§ 3c (1), § 18j UStG); up to 10,000 euro: German advance VAT return (§ 3c (4) UStG).
two different EU countries	the second EU country, private buyer	Tax of the destination country (§ 3c (1) UStG), via the OSS return if you take part in the OSS scheme (§ 18j UStG).
one EU country	the same EU country	In that country's return, not in OSS.
Germany	country outside the EU	Tax-exempt export supply: in the advance VAT return as a tax-exempt supply (Kz 43), not in OSS.

For distance sales the threshold of 10,000 euro applies: if the trader is established in only one member state and the distance sales and certain services to private persons in other member states together exceed 10,000 euro neither in the previous year nor in the current year, § 3c (1) UStG does not apply; you can waive this exception (§ 3c (4) UStG). Above that, the place of supply is in the destination country (§ 3c (1) UStG). You file the German advance VAT return electronically by the tenth day after the end of the return period (§ 18 (1) UStG), the OSS return within one month after the end of the tax period (§ 18j (4) UStG). Details: VAT for eBay sellers: advance return and OSS and OSS for eBay sellers: when it applies and how to file.

Who owes the tax when eBay is a marketplace?

Two provisions govern what a marketplace does for its sellers' tax.

§ 25e UStG (liability of the operator). Whoever supports the supply of a good through an electronic interface is liable for the unpaid tax on that supply. The liability in principle does not apply if the supplier has, at the time of supply, a valid VAT ID issued by the Federal Central Tax Office, unless the operator knew or should have known that the seller is not meeting their tax duties. That is why eBay requires commercial sellers to hold a valid VAT ID. The provision governs the operator's liability; it does not take you out of your own tax return.
§ 3 (3a) UStG (deemed supply chain). If the operator supports the supply by a trader not established in the Community to private customers within the EU, or the distance sale of goods imported from a third country in consignments of up to 150 euro, it is treated as the supplier itself. Then § 25e does not apply and the operator owes the tax on that supply.

According to eBay's own help page, eBay collects VAT from the buyer and remits it in these cases: goods with a consignment value of up to 150 euro imported into the EU, goods of a seller not established in the EU shipped from an EU warehouse, and digital products. In such cases the seller should not collect VAT from the buyer. For a trader established in Germany who ships from Germany to buyers in the EU, this normally does not apply: you declare these sales yourself.

The column Von eBay eingezogene Steuer shows whether eBay collected tax on a row.

How VAT GPT helps

By hand, you work out net and tax from the gross amount of every row and sort it by dispatch and destination country. VAT GPT does that for you:

Upload the CSV: You upload the eBay orders report. VAT GPT recognises an eBay report from the column Verkaufsprotokollnummer, skips the blank, summary and seller name lines and reports missing required columns by name.
Check: VAT GPT works out net and tax from the total, sorts each row by dispatch and destination country and shows you the totals for Germany and the EU countries (OSS). Rows with a country that cannot be matched stay visible for your review.
Send: With VAT GPT Pro, the advance VAT return goes via ELSTER to the tax office and the OSS return directly to the BZSt.

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

Which pitfalls are there?

Cancelled orders. Rows with a total of 0,00 are not sales. VAT GPT keeps them out of your sales and counts them separately.
Mixing up net and gross. Gesamtbetrag is gross; you have to work the tax out of it.
Wrong dispatch country. What decides is the item location, not your home and not the buyer's country.
Goods from a warehouse abroad. If the goods are in another EU country and go to buyers in the same country, the sale belongs in that country's return.
Reduced rate in the destination country. The German rate of 7 or 19 per cent says nothing about the destination country's rate. For goods at a German rate of 7 or 19 per cent VAT GPT assigns a category from the listing title and derives the destination country's rate from it; if a title is unclear, it uses the destination country's standard rate and reports the title for review.
German month abbreviations in the date. The sale date reads 27-Feb-26; Mär, Mai, Okt and Dez are German abbreviations that an English date format does not recognise. VAT GPT reads them.
The same file twice. Duplicate rows double your sales. VAT GPT recognises a file already uploaded by its name or content, and an already saved row by its transaction number.

Frequently asked questions

How do I evaluate the eBay report for VAT? Download the orders report as CSV, work net and tax out of the total, sort each row by dispatch country and destination country and carry the totals into the advance VAT return and the OSS return. VAT GPT does these steps when you upload.

Which eBay file does VAT GPT read? The orders report (Orders Report) with the column Verkaufsprotokollnummer, as CSV with semicolons.

Do I have to report the VAT myself if eBay is the marketplace? As a trader established in Germany who ships from Germany, normally yes. § 25e UStG governs the operator's liability, not your tax liability. Only where § 3 (3a) UStG applies is the operator treated as the supplier.

What does the column Von eBay eingezogene Steuer mean? It holds tax that eBay itself collected on this row.

How does VAT GPT treat cancelled orders? A row with a total of 0,00 is not a sale; VAT GPT keeps it out of your sales and counts it separately.

When do I need the OSS return? When your distance sales to private customers in other EU countries exceed 10,000 euro or you waive the threshold (§ 3c (4) sentence 2 UStG), the place of supply is in the destination country. You report these sales through the OSS scheme if you take part in it (§ 18j UStG), otherwise by registering in each destination country. More in OSS for eBay sellers: when it applies and how to file.