OSS and B2B: do sales to businesses belong in the OSS return?

Do B2B sales belong in the OSS return? Usually not: it is meant for sales to private individuals in other EU countries. Goods sold to a business there that gives you its valid VAT ID are usually a VAT-exempt intra-Community supply (§ 6a (1) UStG). They go into your advance VAT return and EC Sales List, not the OSS return.

Last updated: 27 October 2026

In short

Check customers: the BZSt confirms foreign VAT IDs, also qualified with company name and address.
No valid VAT ID: exemption condition missing; distance sale depends on the customer's status (§ 3c (1) UStG).
Threshold: B2C distance sales and certain services, incl. equivalent buyers (§ 3c (4) UStG), not B2B with valid VAT ID.

Which sales belong in the OSS return?

The BZSt describes the scheme like this: it is aimed at businesses established in Germany that supply services to private individuals in other EU countries for payment or make intra-Community distance sales of goods. In the OSS return you give the figures separately for each EU member state in which you supplied to non-businesses, broken down by tax rate (BZSt).

An intra-Community distance sale is a supply of goods that you, or someone on your behalf, transports or ships from one EU country to another (§ 3c (1) sentence 2 UStG). Buyers for this purpose are private customers and buyers treated like them. The law names, for example, a business whose acquisition is not subject to VAT in the destination country because of that country's acquisition threshold (§ 3c (1) sentence 3 UStG). Sales to businesses with a valid VAT ID are not distance sales: § 6a UStG (intra-Community supply) applies to them.

More on the process and deadlines of the return: OSS return for online sellers. How distance sales and the threshold fit together: Distance sales under § 3c UStG and The EU VAT OSS threshold of 10,000 euros.

Who is a business? How to check your customer

The BZSt says: a business established in the EU proves its business status to a German supplier by giving its VAT ID. As the supplier you can check the foreign VAT IDs issued by the tax authorities of the EU countries for validity. In a qualified confirmation request you can also have the company name including legal form, town, postcode and street checked against the number (BZSt).

Check at the BZSt	What you get
Simple confirmation	An answer on whether the queried EU VAT ID is valid. You enter your own German VAT ID and the EU VAT ID to be queried.
Qualified confirmation	In addition, a check of company name, town, postcode and street against the number.

Keep the result: with the online confirmation procedure you provide the proof, according to the BZSt, by keeping the printout or saving the result in a common format or as a screenshot.

Which three cases are there?

Your customer	Consequence	Where it goes
Private individual in another EU country	Distance sale: German VAT up to the €10,000 threshold, unless you waive the threshold; VAT of the destination country above it (§ 3c (1) and (4) UStG).	Below the threshold: advance VAT return. Above it: OSS return at the BZSt or registration in the destination country.
Business in another EU country with a valid VAT ID, goods arrive there	VAT-exempt intra-Community supply (§ 4 No. 1 letter b, § 6a UStG) if you can prove the conditions.	Advance VAT return and EC Sales List. Not in the OSS return.
Business without a VAT ID or with an invalid number	No intra-Community supply, because the valid VAT ID is a condition (§ 6a (1) No. 4 UStG). Whether a distance sale exists depends on the customer's status (§ 3c (1) sentence 3 UStG).	Clarify the customer's status before you write the invoice.

There is no blanket answer for the third case. If there is neither an intra-Community supply nor a distance sale, the general rule applies: a supply with transport or shipping is made where the transport begins (§ 3 (6) sentence 1 UStG), so for goods shipped from Germany, in Germany.

What does it look like in an example? Private and business customers in the same quarter

You sell from Germany. Last year your distance sales to private customers in other EU countries came to €2,000 net. This year, by the end of the third quarter, you add:

Distance sales to private individuals in France, Austria and Italy: €3,800 net in total.
One supply to a company in Poland that gives you its valid Polish VAT ID: €6,000 net. The goods are shipped to Poland.

The private-customer sales are €3,800, below the €10,000 threshold, and last year was €2,000: German VAT applies and you declare it in your advance VAT return. The €6,000 to the Polish company does not count towards the threshold. If the conditions are met, it is a VAT-exempt intra-Community supply: you enter it as such in the advance return and report it in the EC Sales List. You need no OSS return for this quarter.

If your distance sales to private customers later in the year rise above €10,000, the VAT of the destination country applies from the sale that exceeds the threshold. Then you declare these private-customer sales in the OSS return or after registering in the destination country, but only these. Your B2B supplies stay outside it.

Where do you report B2B sales?

Advance VAT return: According to the ELSTER help, you enter VAT-exempt intra-Community supplies to customers with a VAT ID in a separate line, in the period in which you issue the invoice, at the latest in the period in which the month following the supply ends (§ 18b UStG). How the advance return works: German advance VAT return: filing online.
EC Sales List (ZM): You file it with the BZSt if you have supplied goods to the rest of the EU (§ 18a UStG; BZSt). Small business owners under § 19 (1) UStG are exempt (BZSt).

All conditions, proofs and deadlines: Intra-Community supplies to businesses in Germany.

Which mistakes come up most often?

Putting B2B sales into the OSS return. OSS is meant for sales to non-businesses.
Just copying the number. Check the customer's VAT ID before delivery and keep the result.
Forgetting the EC Sales List. Anyone who does not file it, or files it incorrectly or incompletely, loses the exemption for the supply concerned (§ 4 No. 1 letter b UStG).
Counting intra-Community supplies towards the threshold. The €10,000 concerns distance sales and certain services to private customers and buyers treated like them.
Treating a trader without a VAT ID like a company with a number. Without a valid number the exemption under § 6a UStG is not met.

How VAT GPT helps

VAT GPT keeps sales to businesses in other EU countries separate from OSS sales. In three steps:

Upload: You 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 keeps intra-Community B2B supplies apart from the OSS sales. VAT-exempt intra-Community supplies from your invoices appear in the advance return in the line for supplies to customers with a VAT ID. You check and confirm.
Send: With VAT GPT Pro, the advance return via ELSTER and the OSS return directly to the BZSt.

If you write invoices in VAT GPT, you can have your customer's VAT ID checked there; VAT GPT shows "Valid per VIES". When you create an invoice, VAT GPT also checks from your recorded sales whether the €10,000 threshold has been exceeded and offers the tax rates accordingly. The registration for the OSS scheme is done in the BZStOnline portal. 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). Try for Free Now

Frequently asked questions

Do sales to businesses belong in the OSS return? Usually not. OSS covers distance sales and certain services to private individuals (BZSt). Supplies to businesses with a valid VAT ID are, if the conditions are met, VAT-exempt intra-Community supplies.

How do I know whether my customer is a business? By its VAT ID, which you can check at the BZSt for validity (BZSt). A qualified confirmation also checks company name, town, postcode and street.

Do B2B sales count towards the €10,000 threshold? Supplies to businesses with a valid VAT ID do not. The threshold concerns distance sales and certain services to private customers (§ 3c (4) sentence 1 UStG). Distance sales also include supplies to buyers treated like them, for example a business whose acquisition is not taxed in the destination country because of the acquisition threshold (§ 3c (1) sentence 3 UStG).

What applies if my business customer gives no VAT ID? Then there is no intra-Community supply (§ 6a (1) No. 4 UStG). If it buys as a business for its business, a supply shipped from Germany is made in Germany (§ 3 (6) sentence 1 UStG) and you charge German VAT. It is a distance sale only if the customer is a buyer under § 3c (1) sentence 3 UStG. Clarify the customer's status before you write the invoice.

Do I have to file an EC Sales List for B2B supplies? Yes, if you have supplied goods to the rest of the EU, unless you are a small business owner under § 19 (1) UStG (BZSt).

Can I have B2B and private-customer sales in the same month? Yes. Each sale is classified by itself: private customers under § 3c UStG, businesses with a valid VAT ID under § 6a UStG.