Kleinanzeigen taxes in Germany: private or commercial seller?

If you sell your own used things on Kleinanzeigen, usually no tax is due: everyday items are excluded, and for other items a gain below €1,000 in the calendar year stays tax-free (§ 23 EStG). Selling on a continuing basis to earn income makes you an entrepreneur (§ 2 UStG). The law sets no sales count for this.

Last updated: 27 October 2026

In short

Selling privately: Everyday items are never taxable; for other items the holding period and the gain decide.
Selling commercially: Then you register the trade, and the small business limits of €25,000 and €100,000 apply.
DAC7: Kleinanzeigen reports only sellers with 30 or more sales or €2,000 or more in income a year.

When do you pay tax as a Kleinanzeigen seller?

It depends on what you sell and how often. Three questions help:

Do you sell your own things from private possession, or do you buy goods to resell them?
Do you sell once, or again and again over time?
How high is your income per year?

The answers show whether you act privately or as an entrepreneur. The law names no fixed number of sales per year. It looks at continuity and the intention to earn income (§ 2 (1) sentence 3 UStG).

Selling privately: when does it stay tax-free?

For items other than land, the Income Tax Act taxes as private sales transactions only sales where no more than one year lies between purchase and sale (§ 23 (1) sentence 1 no. 2 EStG). Sales of everyday items are excluded. If you earned income with the item in at least one calendar year, for example by renting it out, the period is ten years (§ 23 (1) sentence 1 no. 2 sentence 4 EStG). The provision does not say in detail what counts as an everyday item.

Gain or loss is the difference between the sale price on the one hand and the acquisition or production costs and the income-related expenses on the other (§ 23 (3) sentence 1 EStG). Gains remain tax-free if the total gain from private sales transactions in the calendar year is less than €1,000 (§ 23 (3) sentence 5 EStG). Losses may only be offset against gains from private sales transactions of the same year (§ 23 (3) sentence 7 EStG).

You sell	Result under § 23 EStG
An everyday item	Not a taxable private sales transaction.
Another item, more than one year after purchase, without having earned income with it	Not a private sales transaction within the meaning of the provision.
Another item, within one year of purchase, total gain for the year below €1,000	The gain stays tax-free.
Another item, within one year of purchase, total gain for the year €1,000 or more	The gain is taxable.

When do you count as a commercial seller?

For VAT purposes an entrepreneur is anyone who carries out a commercial or professional activity independently. Commercial or professional is any continuing activity to earn income, even if the intention to make a profit is missing (§ 2 (1) UStG). For income tax, a trade business is an independent, continuing activity undertaken with the intention of making a profit that takes part in general economic activity (§ 15 (2) EStG).

Whether this applies to you depends on the circumstances of your individual case. The BZSt points out that you are not automatically commercially active if you receive compensation through a platform. You should, however, check whether a tax-relevant activity exists, because you must state it in your income tax return. For this check the BZSt recommends contacting legal and tax advisers.

What do I need to do if I sell commercially?

Register the trade: Anyone who starts an independent permanent trade must notify the competent authority at the same time (§ 14 (1) GewO).
Inform the tax office: You report the opening of a commercial business to the municipality, which informs the tax office (§ 138 (1) AO). Entrepreneurs can also fulfil the notification electronically with the tax office (§ 138 (1a) AO). The notification is due within one month of the event (§ 138 (4) AO). How to get a tax number is explained in Apply for a tax number in Germany.
Clarify VAT: As a small business owner your turnover is VAT-exempt if total turnover was no more than €25,000 in the previous year and is no more than €100,000 in the current year (§ 19 (1) UStG). If you start during the current year, only your total turnover in that year counts, and the limit is €25,000 (section 19.1 (3) UStAE). More: VAT return for a small business in Germany. Otherwise the tax is 19 percent, for certain goods 7 percent (§ 12 UStG).
Determine profit: Your profit goes into your income tax return. How the income surplus statement works is in EÜR in Germany.
Trade tax: As a sole trader you file a trade tax return if your trade income for the year exceeds €24,500, a loss carry-forward was determined at the end of the previous year, or the tax office asks for it (§ 25 (1) GewStDV), see Trade tax return in Germany.

What does Kleinanzeigen report to the tax authorities (DAC7)?

On its DAC7 page Kleinanzeigen describes when it reports. According to it, 30 sales or more per year and income that reaches or exceeds €2,000 per year are reportable. Under the law one of the two limits is enough: you are exempt only if you stay below 30 sales and below €2,000 compensation (§ 4 (5) sentence 1 no. 4 PStTG). Only information on successful transactions is transmitted, that is completed sales through the Kleinanzeigen payment system. The report is made by 31 January for the previous calendar year, and you receive a copy of the transmitted data. The legal basis and what to do after a report are in DAC7 reporting: what platforms report about sellers to the BZSt. A report does not automatically make you a commercial seller.

Which mistakes happen often?

Treating all sales alike. Selling an everyday item is assessed differently from selling bought-in goods in series.
Overlooking the one-year period. For other items it matters whether no more than one year lies between purchase and sale (§ 23 (1) EStG).
Selling commercially without registering a trade. Anyone starting a permanent trade must notify it (§ 14 GewO) and report it to the tax office (§ 138 AO).
Showing VAT on an invoice although you are a small business owner. You must not show it separately and must refer to § 19 UStG (Finanzamt Hessen).
Ignoring the platform report. Check the overview you receive and compare it with your own records.

How VAT GPT helps

If you have started selling commercially and also sell through Amazon or eBay, it takes three steps:

Upload: your Amazon or eBay CSV reports and your invoices. The AI reads amounts, countries and tax rates.
Check: VAT GPT breaks down the VAT for Germany and the EU (OSS) and prepares the advance return, monthly or quarterly. You check and confirm.
Send: with VAT GPT Pro via ELSTER directly to the tax office.

Everything is in one place: advance VAT return, annual VAT return, OSS return, EÜR, trade tax and income tax returns. 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). Sending to ELSTER is part of Pro. Try for Free Now

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to pay tax on Kleinanzeigen? Not if you sell everyday items as a private person. For other items the one-year period and the gain matter (§ 23 EStG). If you sell on a continuing basis to earn income, you count as an entrepreneur (§ 2 UStG).

From how many sales am I commercial? § 2 UStG and § 15 EStG name no fixed number. Continuity and the circumstances of the individual case matter.

What if I sell at a loss? A loss from private sales transactions may only be offset against gains from such transactions in the same year (§ 23 (3) sentence 7 EStG).

Do I have to register a trade? Anyone who starts an independent permanent trade must notify the competent authority (§ 14 (1) GewO).

Does Kleinanzeigen report me to the tax office? According to Kleinanzeigen, only if your sales reach the DAC7 limits of 30 sales or €2,000 income per year.

As a small business owner, must I show VAT? No. You must not show it separately and must refer to the exemption under § 19 (1) UStG (Finanzamt Hessen).