Selling on Amazon or eBay alongside a job: taxes

You have a job and want to sell on Amazon or eBay on the side. For tax purposes: if you run the selling as a business, you have income from a trade or business next to your salary, and you can work out its profit with an EÜR (profit calculation), as long as you are not required to keep books and do not keep them (section 4 (3) EStG). If the income that was not subject to wage tax deduction is more than €410 in a year, an assessment is carried out (section 46 (2) no. 1 EStG), so you file an income tax return (section 56 EStDV). VAT duties come on top. Whether your employment contract allows a side activity is employment law and not covered here.

Last updated: October 27, 2026

In brief

Income tax: if you have salary with tax withheld and, next to it, income that was not subject to wage tax deduction, its amount decides. More than €410 a year leads to an assessment (section 46 (2) no. 1 EStG). Up to €410 it does not by itself lead to an assessment; if you are assessed for another reason under section 46 (2) EStG, an amount equal to it is deducted from your income (section 46 (3) EStG).
Income means profit, not turnover. With the EÜR it is the surplus of business receipts over business expenses (section 4 (3) EStG).
VAT: either the small-business scheme (section 19 UStG) applies or you file VAT returns, unless the tax office releases you from them; it can do so when the tax for the year is not more than €2,000 (section 18 (2) UStG).

May I sell on the side as an employee?

A business produces income from a trade or business (section 15 (1) no. 1 EStG), next to your salary. What your employer says about it is set by your employment contract, not by tax law.

When do you have to file an income tax return?

Section 46 EStG applies to employees with wage tax deducted. If the income consists wholly or partly of income from employment from which tax was deducted, an assessment is carried out only in the cases of section 46 (2). The first case concerns your side income: an assessment is carried out if the positive sum of the taxable income that was not subject to wage tax deduction, reduced by the amounts under section 13 (3) and section 24a EStG, is more than €410.

This means income, so your profit from selling. Sales of €5,000 with €4,800 in business expenses leave €200 profit.

Three examples, each without other income next to the salary and without the age relief amount:

Profit from selling in the year	Result under section 46 EStG and section 70 EStDV
€300	Not more than €410: no assessment under section 46 (2) no. 1. If you are assessed for another reason under section 46 (2), an amount equal to the income is deducted from your income (section 46 (3)).
€500	More than €410: assessment under section 46 (2) no. 1. The hardship relief amount is deducted from your income: 820 minus 500 = €320 (section 70 EStDV).
€1,200	More than €410: assessment. The hardship relief amount is 0, because the income is not lower than €820 (section 70 EStDV).

In the second case €180 of the profit remain in your income after the deduction. The example uses the figures in the provisions; your own calculation depends on other income and deductions.

How to enter the profit in the return: Anlage G for online sellers. For very low sales or none: Side business with no sales.

How do you register the side business?

You register the business and apply to the tax office for the tax number for your selling: Register a business online and Tax registration questionnaire for sole proprietors.

Small business or not?

A supply is exempt if total turnover did not exceed €25,000 in the previous year and does not exceed €100,000 in the current year (section 19 (1) UStG). Then the filing duties of section 18 (1) to (4) UStG do not apply to these supplies, so no VAT return either. But if you owe tax as the recipient under section 13b (5) UStG, for example on an invoice without VAT from a business in another EU country, you file a VAT return for that tax (section 18 (4a) UStG). You can also waive the small-business scheme; the waiver binds you for at least five calendar years (section 19 (3) UStG). If you are above that, you owe VAT and declare it. The details: Small-business rule 2026: the limit.

What about trade tax?

How trade tax applies to Amazon sellers is covered here: Trade tax for Amazon sellers.

Common mistakes

Mixing up turnover and profit. The €410 rule in section 46 EStG counts income, so profit.
Not declaring the side activity at all. If the income is above €410, an assessment under section 46 (2) no. 1 EStG is provided for.
Not filling in the questionnaire. It is how you apply for the tax number.
Not collecting business expenses. They reduce the profit (section 4 (3) EStG).

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 fill in the tax registration questionnaire for sole proprietors in VAT GPT and send it to the tax office to get a tax number.
VAT GPT creates the VAT return, the EÜR and the income tax return from your Amazon and eBay reports and invoices. You check and confirm.
With VAT GPT Pro you send them through ELSTER.

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

Not tax advice: the content does not replace individual advice.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to file a tax return as an employee with a side business? If your income that was not subject to wage tax deduction is more than €410 a year, an assessment is carried out (section 46 (2) no. 1 EStG).

Is the 410 euros turnover or profit? Income, so profit. With the EÜR it is the surplus of business receipts over business expenses.

What happens at €410 or less? That income does not by itself lead to an assessment. If you are assessed for another reason under section 46 (2) EStG, an amount equal to it is deducted from your income (section 46 (3) EStG).

How do I get a tax number for the side business? With the tax registration questionnaire that you send to the tax office.