VAT registration in Germany for your online store
VAT registration in Germany, returns filed in Germany and reconciliation with your accounts in Spain. Fiscal representative, EORI and EPR when needed.
In short
To sell from stock in Germany you need a VAT number in Germany and you must file your returns there. The service includes registration and tax compliance in Germany: periodic returns, EC sales lists, Intrastat and whatever its authority requires.
Standard VAT rate in Germany: 19% (reduced: 7%). Germany is the first country where Spanish stores open a warehouse, and the one that checks most closely: marketplaces require the German VAT number and LUCID registration before letting you sell.
When you need a VAT number in Germany
If you are in any of these situations, you need to register before the first sale:
- You hold goods in Germany: your own warehouse, a logistics provider or Amazon FBA, and sell from there to customers in that country.
- You buy in Germany and resell within the country, without the goods leaving.
- You import from outside the EU with customs clearance in Germany in your own name.
- You prefer not to use OSS for distance sales and to file in each country (unusual, but possible).
- You sell to businesses in that country with local delivery from your stock there.
VAT in Germany at a glance
| 🇩🇪 Germany | |
|---|---|
| Standard VAT rate | 19 % |
| Reduced rates | 7 % |
| Where you register | With the Finanzamt that Germany assigns to businesses from each country of origin (Spanish companies are allocated to Kassel). |
| What number you get | German tax number (Steuernummer) and VAT number (USt-IdNr.) |
| What you file | Preliminary VAT return (Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldung) monthly or quarterly via ELSTER, plus the annual return. |
| Transactions with other countries | EC sales list (Zusammenfassende Meldung) and Intrastat above the thresholds. |
| Fiscal representative | Not mandatory: you register directly, whether you are from the EU or not. |
| Packaging and EPR | Packaging in LUCID with a dual system, electrical equipment and batteries with Stiftung EAR, and single-use plastics in DIVID. Included: see details. |
Data as of September 2026. Rates and deadlines are confirmed for your case before anything is filed.
What's included
VAT registration in Germany
With the Finanzamt that Germany assigns to businesses from each country of origin (Spanish companies are allocated to Kassel). File preparation, submission and follow-up until you have the number.
Returns on time
Preliminary VAT return (Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldung) monthly or quarterly via ELSTER, plus the annual return. Filed on time, with the amount notified before each payment.
Transfers from Spain
Goods leaving Spain are declared here (Form 349 and ROI) and there as an intra-EU acquisition. Both sides, reconciled.
Fiscal representative and EORI
Not mandatory: you register directly, whether you are from the EU or not. If you import, also the EORI and Intrastat.
Packaging and EPR
Packaging in LUCID with a dual system, electrical equipment and batteries with Stiftung EAR, and single-use plastics in DIVID. See EPR in Germany.
Tax demands and regularisations
If letters arrive from the authority in Germany, they are handled in its language. If you have been selling for a while without registering, the late returns are filed.
How we start
You write to us or book a call
What you sell, how your stock gets in Germany and which channels you sell through there.
Registration
VAT registration in Germany and, where applicable, fiscal representative, EORI and EPR registrations.
Compliance
Every return on time, reconciled with your accounts in Spain, and a heads-up on whatever is needed.
Other countries with VAT registration
How VAT registration in another country works · OSS and IOSS
Frequently asked questions
When do I need a German VAT number?
When your goods are in Germany and you sell from there: your own warehouse, a logistics provider or Amazon FBA. Also if you buy and sell within Germany. If you only ship from Spain to German consumers, OSS is enough.
How often is VAT filed in Germany?
With monthly or quarterly preliminary returns via ELSTER, plus an annual return. When you start, they usually ask for the monthly one.
What is LUCID?
Germany's central packaging register. Every company that puts packaging into the hands of German consumers, shipping boxes included, must be registered and contract a dual system. Without registration, you cannot sell.
Can I declare sales from my stock in Germany through OSS?
Not if the customer is in that same country: it is a domestic sale and is declared there with the local VAT number.
I've been selling in Germany for a while without a VAT number. What do I do?
Regularise it as soon as possible: the registration, the late returns and the replies to tax demands are filed. The longer you wait, the higher the surcharges; and marketplaces end up pulling your stock.
Do you also keep the accounts in Spain?
Yes. Your store's accounting and taxes in Spain and the tax compliance in Germany go through the same point of contact, so what is declared in both countries reconciles.
Tell us about your store
Book a 15-minute call or write to us. We'll tell you what you need: VAT registration in whichever country, OSS and IOSS, EPR, US sales tax or your store's accounting. No obligation.