VAT (USt) invoice requirements in Germany

A VAT (USt) invoice in Germany must show your USt-IdNr., the customer's details, an itemised list of what you supplied, and the VAT (USt) shown separately with its rate — currently 7%, 19%, with 19% as the usual rate for most services.

What goes on the document

On top of the universal fields — invoice number, dates, both parties, line items and total — Germany expects:

• Your USt-IdNr. (formatted like DE123456789)
• The VAT (USt) rate applied to each line
• The VAT (USt) amount, shown separately from the net
• The total payable including VAT (USt)

The Germany rule that catches people out

Small businesses under the Kleinunternehmer threshold may opt out of charging VAT entirely, but must then state on the invoice that no VAT is charged under §19 UStG. Cross-border supply inside the EU usually shifts the liability to the customer under reverse charge, which must be stated explicitly.

Rates

7%, 19%. Most service work sits at 19%. 7% covers food, books, public transport and a specific list of goods.

Rates change. Checked to mid-2026 and a starting point, not tax advice. The current source is the Bundeszentralamt für Steuern — and if you are near a registration threshold, twenty minutes with an accountant beats a search engine.

When you have to register for VAT (USt) in Germany

The Kleinunternehmerregelung applies below €25,000 of turnover in the previous year and €100,000 expected in the current one. Under it you charge no USt but must state the reason on every invoice, citing §19 UStG.

Most systems test this on a rolling twelve months rather than your financial year — which is where the expensive mistakes happen.

Which VAT (USt) rate applies to what

7% covers food, books, newspapers, cultural events, public transport over short distances and hotel accommodation. 19% is everything else. The boundary produces famous absurdities — takeaway food at 7%, the same food eaten in at 19%.

Mandatory e-invoicing has started

Since January 2025 German businesses must be able to receive structured electronic invoices for domestic B2B transactions, with obligations to issue them phased in afterwards by company size. A PDF is not a structured electronic invoice for this purpose — the formats contemplated are XRechnung and ZUGFeRD.

Kleinunternehmer and the sentence you must include

If you use the small-business rule, the invoice needs a line to the effect of "Gemäß §19 UStG wird keine Umsatzsteuer berechnet". Leaving it off is the single most common defect on German freelance invoices, and a client's bookkeeper will send it back.

Tax on a discounted invoice

One that gets miscalculated constantly: when you show a discount on the invoice, VAT (USt) is charged on the discounted amount, not the list price. Bill €4,100, discount 5%, and the taxable value is €3,895 — not €4,100. At 19% that is €740.05 of VAT (USt), not €779. Getting this backwards means you collect more tax than you owe and hand it over, out of your own margin — on every invoice you issue until someone notices.

Invoicing a customer outside Germany

Intra-EU B2B supplies are reverse-charged with both VAT numbers on the invoice and a Zusammenfassende Meldung filed. Germany applies the documentary conditions strictly.

Charging tax to a client in another country sets out the general shape; the first time it comes up it is worth an hour with an accountant.

Record keeping in Germany

Ten years, and the invoices must be stored in a way that preserves their integrity under the GoBD rules. Retention rules mean the document, not a row in a ledger.

Set your country once in EstimateBill and the tax is labelled correctly on every invoice after that — GST and GSTIN in India, VAT in the UK, Sales Tax and EIN in the US, across 58 countries.