OSS return with cash-basis VAT (Ist): which quarter does a sale belong in?

You account for VAT on payments received (Ist-Versteuerung, cash basis) and wonder whether that also applies to your OSS return? The OSS return covers the sales for which the tax arose in the quarter (section 16(1d) UStG). Section 13(1) no. 1(g) UStG says when that is: at the end of the quarter in which you delivered, while cash-basis taxation "remains unaffected" ("bleibt unberührt"). That is German law, and it governs German VAT. Your OSS return, though, mostly holds the VAT of your customers' countries, and when that VAT arises is decided by each country's own law. The EU basic rule is delivery (Article 63 of the VAT Directive); a country may use payment instead only where it provides for it (Article 66 of the VAT Directive).

Last updated: 27 October 2026

In brief

Period: the OSS return covers a calendar quarter (section 16(1d) sentence 1 UStG). Filing and payment are due by the end of the following month (section 18j(4) UStG).
Yardstick: a quarter holds the sales for which the tax arose in that quarter (section 16(1d) sentence 2 UStG).
German law: in the OSS scheme the tax arises at the end of the quarter of delivery; if the tax office has allowed you cash-basis taxation under section 20 UStG, it stays applicable (section 13(1) no. 1(g) UStG). This applies to German VAT.
Law of the destination country: for another EU country's VAT in your return, that country's law applies. The EU basic rule is delivery (Article 63 of the VAT Directive); payment counts only where the country provides for it (Article 66(b) of the VAT Directive).
Safe route: report the sale in the quarter of delivery. If you want to report by payment date for a destination country, first check with your tax adviser whether that country provides for it; we did not check this country by country.
Mistakes: you correct them in a later return, up to three years after the filing deadline of the original return (section 18j(4) sentence 5 UStG).

What applies to the OSS return?

The tax period is the calendar quarter (section 16(1d) sentence 1 UStG), whether you file your German advance return monthly or quarterly.
You calculate the tax yourself and file the return within one month after the quarter ends. The tax is due on the last day of the following month (section 18j(4) UStG).
According to the BZSt overview: Q1 by 30 April, Q2 by 31 July, Q3 by 31 October, Q4 by 31 January of the following year.
Even with no sales in the quarter you file a return (a nil return).

How often you file and which sales belong in it: OSS return: how often and when and OSS return: which sales to report.

What cash-basis VAT covers, and what it does not

Under accrual taxation (Soll) the tax arises at the end of the advance-return period in which the supply was made; a prepayment received before delivery is taxed in the period in which you receive it (section 13(1) no. 1(a) UStG). Under cash-basis taxation (Ist) it arises at the end of the advance-return period in which you received the payment (section 13(1) no. 1(b) UStG). You get cash-basis taxation only on application to the tax office, for example if your total turnover in the previous year was no more than 800,000 euros (section 20 UStG). The everyday difference is explained in Cash vs accrual VAT in Germany.

Section 13 has its own rule for the OSS scheme: the tax arises at the end of the quarter in which the supplies were made, and "letter b remains unaffected" (section 13(1) no. 1(g) UStG). So if the tax office has allowed you cash-basis taxation, under German law the receipt of payment also counts in the OSS. But German law only decides when German VAT arises. For a sale to Austria you report Austrian VAT, and Austrian law decides when it arises. The EU VAT Directive, which every EU country transposes, says the tax becomes chargeable when the goods are supplied (Article 63 of the VAT Directive). A country may provide that, for certain transactions or groups of businesses, it becomes chargeable no later than when the price is received (Article 66(b) of the VAT Directive). The BZSt One-Stop-Shop pages give only the quarter and the deadlines on this.

Which quarter does the sale belong in?

For your OSS return this means: assign a sale to the quarter in which you delivered. That is the EU basic rule, and the EU Commission describes the supplies in the return as those carried out in the return period. Assign by receipt of payment only where cash-basis taxation applies to the sale: for German VAT with the permission under section 20 UStG, for another country's VAT only where that country provides for it.

An example with made-up numbers:


Order and delivery to Austria	28.09.2026 to 30.09.2026
Amazon pays out	12.10.2026
Assigned by quarter of delivery (basic rule)	Q3, return and payment due 31.10.2026
Assigned by quarter of payment (only where cash-basis taxation applies to the sale)	Q4, return and payment due 31.01.2027

In the second case you report the sale three months later. If cash-basis taxation does not apply to it, your Q3 return is incomplete and the tax is paid late. Anyone who repeatedly fails to meet the obligations in the scheme on time is excluded from it (section 18j(6) UStG). That makes waiting for the payout risky when in doubt.

Our advice: report in the quarter of delivery until your tax adviser has confirmed that payment counts for your sales to a particular country. Then apply that assignment consistently. How Amazon payouts are treated for tax: Amazon payouts and tax in Germany.

Credit notes, refunds and mistakes

If you issue a credit note in a later quarter, you do not book it in the new quarter. According to the EU Commission's guide you correct the OSS return for the period in which you declared the sale; the return has its own part for corrections. Corrections made within three years are notified with a later return, naming the period you correct (section 18j(4) UStG).

Common mistakes

Carrying cash-basis VAT over from your advance return unchecked. Under German law it also applies in the OSS, but only to German VAT; for another country's VAT that country's law decides.
Waiting for the payout. A Q3 sale may then only show up in Q4, while the Q3 deadline is already running.
Forgetting the nil return. With no sales you still file.
Paying late. The money must be at the federal cash office by the end of the following month; direct debit is not possible.
Booking a credit note in the new quarter. It is a correction of the old period.

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.

You upload your Amazon or eBay reports as CSV. VAT GPT reads them and sorts the sales into Germany and OSS.
VAT GPT assigns a sale to a period by the transaction date of the row in your report (in Amazon reports the column TRANSACTION_COMPLETE_DATE).
VAT GPT calculates the OSS return for all EU countries; you check it. With Pro you send it to the BZSt.

There is Free, Go (30 days free with all Pro features) and Pro. Try for free now

Frequently asked questions

Does my cash-basis VAT also apply to the OSS return? For German VAT, yes: in the OSS scheme the tax arises at the end of the quarter of delivery, and cash-basis taxation remains unaffected (section 13(1) no. 1(g) UStG). For another EU country's VAT, that country's law decides; the EU basic rule is delivery (Article 63 of the VAT Directive).

Which quarter does an order belong in if it is paid out in the next quarter? The quarter of delivery, unless cash-basis taxation applies to the sale: for German VAT with the permission under section 20 UStG, for another country's VAT only where that country provides for it. When in doubt, report in the quarter of delivery.

When must I file the OSS return? By the end of the month after the quarter: 30 April, 31 July, 31 October and 31 January. The money must also be at the federal cash office by then.

Must I file if I sold nothing? Yes, as a nil return.

What if I reported a quarter wrongly? You correct it in a later return, naming the period, up to three years after the filing deadline of the original return.

Payment date or delivery date: which counts for the OSS return? Sellers ask exactly this online: whether the payment date or the delivery date is to be used. The basic rule is the delivery date: the tax arises at the end of the quarter in which you delivered (section 13(1) no. 1(g) UStG, Article 63 of the VAT Directive). The payment date counts only under cash-basis taxation, and for another EU country's VAT only where that country provides for it (Article 66(b) of the VAT Directive).