OSS return and DATEV export: what works

You submit the OSS return in the BZStOnline portal, by form or CSV import. DATEV plays two roles: your tax advisor can use DATEV to export the values of the OSS EU evaluation as a transport file (CSV) for manual upload at the BZSt (DATEV), and reads your booking data in for the bookkeeping. These are separate files.

Last updated: 27 October 2026

In short

Return: All OSS forms go to the BZSt electronically (BZSt); a DATEV booking batch is not an OSS return.
Without DATEV: You file in the portal by form or CSV import; booking data goes separately to your tax advisor.
Records: They must allow the return and payments to be checked and be kept for ten years (BZSt).

How do the OSS return and DATEV fit together?

There are three usual routes. Which one fits depends on who does your bookkeeping.

Route 1: your tax advisor files with DATEV. On its One-Stop-Shop page DATEV states that the DATEV accounting programs can export the values of the OSS EU evaluation into a transport file (CSV) for manual upload at the BZSt. The details are in the DATEV help centre. For this you supply clean sales data per country and VAT rate.

Route 2: you file yourself, the advisor books. You submit the OSS return in the BZStOnline portal. In parallel your tax advisor gets your receipts and booking data so that the OSS sales and OSS tax are correctly recorded. How the booking looks in SKR03 and SKR04 is covered in booking OSS VAT.

Route 3: you file yourself and keep the figures yourself. Then you use the form or the CSV import in the portal. More on the import: OSS return software.

What must the data contain?

Whatever the route, the BZSt requires the details separately for each EU member state and broken down by tax rates, in euro. Domestic sales do not belong in the OSS return (see which sales go into the OSS return). Records must be kept on the sales under the scheme that make it possible to check the return and payments for correctness. They must be available electronically to the BZSt on request and kept for ten years.

What does your tax advisor need from you?

For your tax advisor this means: every line needs a date, net amount, tax, tax rate and the customer's country. Without the country a sale cannot be assigned to a member state.

Which mistakes come up most often?

Treating a booking file as the return. The return goes through the BZStOnline portal, not through the booking batch.
Not supplying the customer's country. Without a country there is no assignment to a member state.
Mixing up gross and net. The return needs the net sales.
Forgetting the payment. The tax must have reached the federal treasury by the end of the following month (see paying the OSS VAT).
Not agreeing the account mapping. Your tax advisor decides the accounts for OSS sales with you.

How VAT GPT helps

With VAT GPT you export data for your tax advisor and send the OSS return separately from it.

Data export for your tax advisor: you receive a ZIP file with your invoice data for a year, a quarter, a month or all years. It contains:

your income and expense receipts as original files, filed by year, quarter and month,
an overview table (CSV) each for income and expenses with date, gross, net, VAT, currency, receipt file and the business partner's country,
a DATEV booking batch file (EXTF file, the name starts with EXTF_Buchungsstapel) for your tax advisor, which can be imported into DATEV Rechnungswesen.

You enter the consultant number and client number in the DATEV settings; if you do not know them you can add them later. The account mapping is a suggestion that you agree with your tax advisor.

OSS return: VAT GPT calculates the return from your sales data, separately from the export:

Upload: You upload your Amazon or eBay CSV reports and your invoices. The AI reads amounts, countries and tax rates. VAT GPT flags invoices with low confidence for manual review.
Check: VAT GPT separates German VAT from OSS VAT and calculates the OSS return for all EU countries. You check and confirm.
Send: With VAT GPT Pro, the OSS return goes directly to the BZSt.

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

Can I submit the OSS return from DATEV? DATEV describes an export of the OSS EU evaluation into a transport file (CSV) for manual upload at the BZSt (DATEV).

Is a DATEV booking batch an OSS return? No. The return is transmitted electronically to the BZSt through the BZStOnline portal (BZSt).

What does my tax advisor need from me? The sales data with date, net, tax, tax rate and the customer's country, plus the receipts.

How long must I keep OSS records? Ten years (BZSt).

Where do I find the details of the DATEV export? In the DATEV help centre under "OSS-EU-Auswertung: Transportdatei für BZSt erzeugen", as DATEV states on its page.

Can I file without DATEV? Yes, with the form or the CSV import in the BZStOnline portal (BZSt).