German VAT returns for sellers outside Germany: UK, US and other non-EU sellers

Are you based outside Germany and registered for German VAT? Then, as for German businesses, you file an advance VAT return electronically for every period, due on the 10th day after it ends, and an annual return after the year, with the tax office responsible for your country of residence. UK sellers find Brexit notes below.

Last updated: 27 October 2026

In short

Period: Quarter; month if last year's tax exceeded 9,000 euros (§ 18 (2) UStG); new businesses: tax office sets it.
Annual return: Without a different rule seven months after the year end, so 31 July; later with a tax adviser.
Content: Domestic sales by rate, deductible input VAT incl. import VAT (§ 15 (1) no. 2 UStG), not foreign-taxable sales.

When is the return due?

The advance return has to be sent by the 10th day after the end of the return period. The tax you calculate is due on the same day (§ 18 (1) UStG). If you file quarterly, the deadlines are therefore 10 April, 10 July, 10 October and 10 January; if you file monthly, the 10th of each following month. On application, the tax office extends both deadlines by one month (Dauerfristverlängerung, § 46 UStDV); if you file monthly, it grants the extension only against a special advance payment of one eleventh of the previous year's advance payments (§ 47 (1) UStDV).

The period is the calendar quarter. If your tax for the previous year was more than 9,000 euros, it is the calendar month (§ 18 (2) UStG). For businesses that have just started, the statute has a separate rule on the period (§ 18 (2) UStG), and it is relaxed for the years 2021 to 2026. In practice, use the period your tax office names in its registration letter. If you are unsure, ask the office.

The statute requires the advance return electronically in the officially prescribed data format (§ 18 (1) UStG). The tax office can waive the electronic form in a case of hardship; you then use the paper form. The official interface is ELSTER.

When do you file the annual return?

After the calendar year, you file an annual VAT return, also electronically. In it you calculate the tax for the whole year and set the advance payments against it (§ 18 (3) UStG). Without a deviating rule, the deadline for returns that refer to a calendar year is seven months after the year ends (§ 149 (2) AO). A tax adviser who prepares the return gets a later deadline (§ 149 (3) AO).

What goes into the return

Your German return covers the supplies you make in Germany: deliveries from stock in Germany to customers in Germany (§ 3 (6), § 1 (1) no. 1 UStG), split by tax rate. If your company is based outside the EU and you sell through a marketplace such as Amazon to private customers with goods shipped within the EU, the marketplace is treated as the supplier to the customer and owes that VAT (§ 3 (3a) sentence 1 UStG); your own supply to the marketplace is tax-exempt (§ 4 no. 4c UStG). Against it you set the input VAT you can deduct, for example the import VAT for goods you brought into Germany for your business (§ 15 (1) no. 2 UStG).

What does not belong in it: sales that are taxable in another country, for example in a local return of another EU state or under OSS. The Amazon VAT Transactions Report separates these cases by country and tax procedure; see the Amazon VAT report and your advance return and Amazon OSS VAT.

What UK sellers should know after Brexit

The UK is no longer an EU member state, so for German VAT you are a business based in a third country. That has three consequences that you can read directly in the German rules:

Representative: You must name a representative for service in Germany with your registration (§ 22f (1) UStG).
Tax office: The regulation names Finanzamt Hannover-Nord for businesses based in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man (§ 1 (1) no. 7 UStZustV).
German VAT ID: A UK VAT number does not replace the German VAT ID issued by the BZSt.

The UK government states on its own page that you do not normally need to charge UK VAT on goods you sell to customers outside the UK, that you only need to be registered with HMRC for this and can charge VAT at zero rate. That is the UK side of an export. On the German side, a sale is also made in Germany if the goods come from outside the EU into Germany and you or your agent owe the import VAT (§ 3 (8) UStG); a sale from German stock to customers in Germany is made in Germany in any case (§ 3 (6) UStG).

§ 18 (9) UStG also authorises a separate, special procedure for refunding the input VAT of businesses based abroad. It is a different procedure from the regular return and not covered here.

Which mistakes come up most often?

Missing the 10th. The return and the payment fall due on the same day; one month later only if your tax office has granted a Dauerfristverlängerung (§ 46 UStDV).
Waiting for the annual return. The advance returns are due during the year; the annual return does not replace them.
Filing in the wrong office. Your return goes to the central tax office for your country, not to a local office near the warehouse.
Mixing sales of different countries. Sales that Amazon marks as taxable elsewhere belong in that country's return.
Forgetting import VAT. It is deductible if the goods were imported for your business (§ 15 (1) no. 2 UStG); you also have to record it (§ 22 (2) no. 6 UStG).

How VAT GPT helps

Upload the CSV: You upload the Amazon VAT Transactions Report as CSV, several files at once if you like. VAT GPT recognises an Amazon report from the header row.
Check the result: VAT GPT sorts each sales row by TAX_REPORTING_SCHEME and country and shows the totals for Germany and for the EU countries (OSS). VAT GPT shows rows with an unknown procedure as unresolved for your review.
Send: With VAT GPT Pro you send the advance VAT return via ELSTER. Under Personal details you choose the federal state and enter your tax number as shown on documents from your tax office; VAT GPT recognises the tax office from the tax number, and you can change it from a list.

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

Frequently asked questions

When is the German VAT return due? By the 10th day after the end of each period; the payment is due on the same day (§ 18 (1) UStG). The annual return follows after the year; without a deviating rule it is due seven months after the year ends (§ 149 (2) AO).

Monthly or quarterly? Quarterly, unless your tax for the previous year was above 9,000 euros; then monthly (§ 18 (2) UStG). Newly started businesses have a special rule, so follow what your tax office told you.

Where do I send the return as a UK seller? To the tax office responsible for your country: Finanzamt Hannover-Nord.

Do I file on paper? No. The return is filed electronically; the tax office can waive that only to avoid hardship (§ 18 (1) UStG).

Do I need a representative in Germany? If you are based outside the EU and the EEA, yes (§ 22f (1) UStG).

Can I deduct import VAT? Yes, for goods imported for your business (§ 15 (1) no. 2 UStG).