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The complete guide · reviewed by Michael Stiller, Steuerberater

German VAT registration for foreign companies
Who must register, how, and what follows.

Who has to register, what the Finanzamt asks for, how long it takes, and what changes once the number arrives. Written for companies established outside Germany, and kept current by the tax advisers who file these registrations.

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✓ No fiscal representative required by German law ✓ No registration threshold for non-established companies ✓ Steuernummer typically in 4 to 8 weeks

€1,299/yr

All-in, registration included

from €99

per month if already registered

4–8 wks

Typical registration time

Registered with the Steuerberaterkammer Rheinland-Pfalz

A product of FRADECO GmbH, licensed German tax advisory, serving international sellers since 2021

Registering foreign sellers from UK US EU Switzerland Asia

Who must register

Who needs a German VAT registration

Germany has no registration threshold for companies established outside Germany. If your company makes a taxable supply in Germany, the obligation starts with that first supply, not with a revenue figure. In practice, a foreign company must register for German VAT (Umsatzsteuer) when it:

Stores goods in Germany. This includes an Amazon fulfilment centre (FBA DE, or Pan-EU with Germany enabled), a third-party warehouse, or your own stock. The obligation starts when the first item is stored, even before the first sale.
Sells goods that are already in Germany to German customers. A domestic supply that is not covered by the reverse charge needs a German VAT number on the invoice.
Imports goods into Germany and sells them on. Import VAT is only recoverable through a German VAT return.
Moves its own goods between Germany and another EU country (an intra-community acquisition or supply), for example stock transfers between warehouses.
Sells to German consumers from another EU country without using the One-Stop-Shop (OSS), once its EU-wide cross-border B2C sales exceed EUR 10,000 a year.

The EUR 10,000 distance-selling threshold only applies to EU-established sellers. It belongs to the intra-community distance-selling rule (Art. 59c of the VAT Directive, § 3c UStG) and requires establishment in one EU member state. A company established outside the EU, in the UK, the US, Switzerland or China for example, cannot use it: its B2C sales into Germany are taxable in Germany from the first euro.

Who usually does not need to register

A foreign business selling services to German businesses (B2B). The German customer accounts for the VAT under the reverse charge.
An EU-established online seller with no German stock that reports its German B2C sales through OSS in its home country.
A seller whose German sales run entirely through a marketplace that collects the VAT under the deemed-supplier rules, with no German warehouse. Check your specific setup: storage anywhere in Germany changes the answer.

Not sure which side you are on? The 60-second VAT check asks five questions about how you sell into Germany and tells you whether a registration is due.

What you receive

Two numbers, and what each one is for

A German VAT registration produces two identifiers, issued by two authorities, and foreign sellers routinely confuse them.

Number	Issued by	Used for
Tax number (Steuernummer) format 12/345/67890, varies by state	Your assigned tax office (Finanzamt)	Every German VAT return, every letter from the Finanzamt, your VAT payments. This is the number the registration is really about.
VAT identification number (USt-IdNr.) DE followed by nine digits	Federal Central Tax Office (Bundeszentralamt für Steuern, BZSt)	Intra-EU B2B trade and the EU sales list. Amazon and other marketplaces ask for this one. Issued after the Steuernummer, usually within one to three weeks.

Once the USt-IdNr. is issued, confirm it appears in VIES before you invoice an EU business customer: validate any EU VAT number.

The process

How the registration works, step by step

Find the tax office that is responsible for you

You do not choose your Finanzamt. A federal regulation (the Umsatzsteuer-Zuständigkeitsverordnung, UStZustV) assigns exactly one of 24 tax offices to each country of establishment. UK companies go to Hannover-Nord, US companies to Bonn-Innenstadt, Chinese companies to Berlin International. The full table is below, and the Finanzamt lookup shows yours with its bank details. Filing with the wrong office costs weeks.

Complete the tax registration questionnaire (Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung)

The application is a German-language questionnaire about the company, its representatives, its German activity, its expected turnover and its bank account. The expected turnover you declare decides your filing frequency for the first period, so it deserves care rather than a guess.

Attach the company documents

Certificate of incorporation or commercial register extract, articles of association, passport copies of the managing directors, proof of the German activity (a marketplace account, a warehouse contract), and a home-country VAT certificate where one exists. Documents not in German are normally accepted in English; other languages need a translation, and some countries need an apostille. The exact set by country is in the documents checklist, with the reasoning in what each country needs and why.

Sign the power of attorney by hand, if an adviser files for you

The Finanzamt expects a wet-ink signature on the power of attorney (Vollmacht). Typed or electronic signatures have been rejected. Print, sign, scan.

Wait for the Steuernummer

Four to eight weeks from a complete application is typical. Berlin International and Munich run slower in peak periods, and every follow-up question from the office adds time. See how long German VAT registration takes for current processing times by office.

Apply for the USt-IdNr.

With the Steuernummer in hand, the VAT identification number is requested from the BZSt. It usually follows within one to three weeks and is the number you enter in Seller Central.

Germany does not require a fiscal representative for VAT registration, for EU or non-EU companies alike. A foreign company can register directly, or through a German tax adviser acting under a power of attorney. The narrow exception in § 22a UStG concerns specific import arrangements, not ordinary registration.

After registration

What a German VAT registration obliges you to do

Preliminary VAT returns (Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldung, UStVA), monthly or quarterly, due on the 10th of the following month. A return is due even for a month with no sales (a nil return). Frequency follows your prior-year German VAT: monthly above EUR 9,000, quarterly between EUR 2,000 and EUR 9,000, and at or below EUR 2,000 the Finanzamt can waive preliminary returns entirely (thresholds effective since 1 January 2025). For a new registration the frequency comes from the turnover you declared on the questionnaire; the older rule that put every new business on monthly returns for two years is suspended for the assessment periods 2021 to 2026, so check whether it has returned when you register later than that.
Annual VAT return (Umsatzsteuererklärung) for each calendar year, reconciling the preliminary returns.
EU sales list (Zusammenfassende Meldung, ZM) whenever you make intra-EU B2B supplies or stock transfers.
Paying the VAT. By transfer to the Finanzamt's account, or by SEPA direct debit if you set one up. A UK or US bank account works for SEPA in most cases.
Reading the post. The Finanzamt writes in German, and its letters carry deadlines. An unanswered request for information can end in an estimated assessment (Schätzbescheid).

Already selling without a registration?

A backdated registration is possible and is the normal way to put it right: the registration takes effect from the date the obligation began, every missed return is filed, and the VAT is paid with interest. The late-filing surcharge (Verspätungszuschlag, § 152 AO) is 0.25 percent of the assessed tax per started month of delay, at least EUR 25 per month, capped at EUR 25,000 in total. Amazon will also suspend a German listing until it sees a valid registration. If you already hold a letter from the Finanzamt, the letter reader tells you in English what it says and what it wants.

Jurisdiction

Where will your German VAT be registered?

German tax law assigns one specific Finanzamt to each foreign country. You do not choose; the regulation does.

Under the Umsatzsteuer-Zuständigkeitsverordnung (UStZustV), every foreign company is routed to a pre-assigned Finanzamt based on the country where the business is established. The assigned office is the only one with jurisdiction to process your registration and every UStVA that follows. We file at the correct Finanzamt for your country automatically, you do not have to figure out which one.

Country of establishment	Your assigned Finanzamt
United Kingdom	Hannover-Nord (Niedersachsen)
United States	Bonn-Innenstadt (Nordrhein-Westfalen)
Netherlands	Kleve (Nordrhein-Westfalen)
France	Offenburg (Baden-Württemberg)
Italy	München (Bayern)
Spain	Kassel (Hessen)
Portugal	Kassel (Hessen)
Belgium	Trier (Rheinland-Pfalz)
Austria	München (Bayern)
Switzerland	Konstanz (Baden-Württemberg)
Czech Republic	Chemnitz-Süd (Sachsen)
Poland	Hameln / Oranienburg / Cottbus / Nördlingen (see note below)
Sweden	Hamburg-Nord (Hamburg)
Denmark	Flensburg (Schleswig-Holstein)
Turkey	Dortmund-Unna (Nordrhein-Westfalen)
China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea	Berlin International (Berlin)
All other countries (UStZustV catch-all)	Berlin International (Berlin)

Poland is split four ways by company-name initial: A–G to Finanzamt Hameln-Holzminden, H–Ł to Oranienburg, M–R to Cottbus, S–Ż to Nördlingen. This is set by the UStZustV xlsx published by the German Federal Ministry of Finance and applies to every Polish foreign-company VAT registration.

Your file sits in one of 24 offices like this one, chosen by where your company is registered, not by where your goods are.The office decides your paperwork and your IBAN

Assigned office Catch all, for countries not named

01Finanzamt FlensburgDK

02Finanzamt RostockEE

03Finanzamt Hamburg-NordIE · SE

04Finanzamt BremenFI · LV · NO

05Finanzamt Hannover-NordGB · IM

06Finanzamt Hameln-HolzmindenPL A-G

07Finanzamt KleveNL

08Finanzamt Dortmund-UnnaTR

09Finanzamt Bonn-InnenstadtUS

10Finanzamt NeuwiedBG

11Finanzamt TrierBE

12Finanzamt Saarbrücken ILU

13Finanzamt KasselES · HR · PT

14Finanzamt MühlhausenLT

15Finanzamt MagdeburgBY · RU · UA

16Finanzamt OranienburgSI · PL H-Ł

17Finanzamt CottbusPL M-R

18Finanzamt Chemnitz-SüdCZ · RO · SK

19Zentralfinanzamt NürnbergHU

20Finanzamt NördlingenPL S-Ż

21Finanzamt MünchenAT · IT

22Finanzamt OffenburgFR · MC

23Finanzamt KonstanzCH · LI

24Finanzamt Berlin InternationalAE · CN · GR · HK · JP · KR · MK · and every country not named

Poland, split four ways

By the first letter of your company name: A to G Hameln-Holzminden, H to Ł Oranienburg, M to R Cottbus, S to Ż Nördlingen.

Transparent pricing

Fixed price. No surprises.

No per-transaction fees. No setup costs. No hourly billing.

€99

per month

Filing-only, for companies that already hold a German VAT number. Need registration? It is included in our €1,299/year all-in plan. Only need the number itself? Registration alone is €499 one-time (no filing plan; our mandate ends when your number is issued, and the all-in beats €499 + a filing plan at ≈€1,598 in year one).

Registration with your assigned Finanzamt
Tax ID & USt-IdNr. (EU VAT ID)
Monthly UStVA (VAT return) filing with the Finanzamt
Licensed German tax advisor included
Tax-office letters forwarded to you, deadline named
Filing extension (Dauerfristverlängerung): included on Pro, bookable on Standard
Online filing dashboard in English

Start registration

Scope

What’s included (and what isn’t)

The monthly fee covers your routine recurring VAT filings. One-off work like incoming-invoice review or advisory beyond VAT is quoted separately. We file your returns through our own direct connection to ELSTER, the German tax authority's filing system, and the official receipt appears in your dashboard.

Included in €99/month (Standard)

Monthly UStVA preparation & filing
Annual VAT return (Jahreserklärung)
Electronic filing with the Finanzamt by your licensed tax advisor
Finanzamt letters forwarded to you, deadline named
Dashboard in English
Filing extension (Dauerfristverlängerung): included on Pro, bookable on Standard
SEPA direct debit setup for VAT payments
EU sales list (Zusammenfassende Meldung) (ZM) filings

Not included

Incoming invoice review / bookkeeping
Annual financial statements (Bilanz)
Corporate income tax (Körperschaftsteuer)
Legal advice
Tax advisory beyond VAT (billed at €200/hr on request)
Payroll (Lohnbuchhaltung)

StBerG Regulated profession

Steuerberater Licensed tax advisor

Finanzamt Filed on your behalf

4–8 wks Registration time

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Is there a turnover threshold before a foreign company must register?

No. A company established outside the EU cannot use the German small-business exemption, and one established in another EU country can reach it only through its home country's EU small-business scheme (§ 19 Abs. 4 UStG), which rarely fits stock held in Germany. In practice a foreign company is liable from its first taxable supply in Germany. The EUR 10,000 EU distance-selling threshold exists, but only EU-established sellers can use it, and it does not cover goods that are already stored in Germany.

Can I register for German VAT myself?

Yes. Nothing in German law requires an adviser. The questionnaire and all correspondence are in German, the tax office asks follow-up questions in German, and the power of attorney, if you later use one, needs a handwritten signature. Most foreign companies use an adviser for the language and the follow-ups rather than because they must.

Free PDF · Every country

The exact documents you need, by country

A per-country checklist of what the German Finanzamt needs to register you for VAT: company document, apostille, translation, and more. Printable, free. Enter your email and we'll send it over.

One email with the checklist. No spam. Privacy.

Keep reading

Seller situations, country setups, and the deep-dive guides that back up this page.

Ready to register for German VAT?

Fixed price. No hourly billing. A licensed tax advisor handles the entire registration. The tax office typically issues your tax number (Steuernummer) 4 to 8 weeks after a complete application.