Selling goods to Germany: VAT, IOSS and thresholds

The standard VAT rate in Germany is 19%. Which scheme you use depends on where you are established and how the goods reach the customer; the situations below run the same rules as the checker.

This page covers goods sold to consumers. Rates shown are standard rates only.

Typical situations

Established outside the EU, shipping parcels worth up to €150 each from outside the EU

• Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) / import scheme: Available (optional). A taxable person with no EU establishment needs to appoint an intermediary to use the scheme. Conditions to check: Exception: a supplier established in a third country with a VAT mutual assistance agreement with the EU (e.g. Norway) needs no intermediary for goods dispatched from that country. Excise goods are excluded. Using the IOSS is optional.

Established outside the EU, holding stock in the EU

• Union scheme (One Stop Shop): Available (optional). A non-EU taxable person can use the Union scheme only for supplies of goods in its scope; the Member State of identification is where dispatch or transport of the goods begins. Conditions to check: Covers intra-Community distance sales (stock moved to a consumer in another Member State). Whether sales to consumers in the same Member State where the stock lies can be declared in the OSS is not stated on the pages we read.
• Ordinary VAT registration in a Member State: Depends: conditions to check. Without the OSS a supplier would have to register in each Member State where it supplies goods; the OSS is optional. Conditions to check: The official pages we read do not say expressly that a non-EU seller must register for VAT in the Member State where its stock is held for domestic sales; confirm with that Member State's authority. Per the guide, a non-EU person is allocated a VAT number by the Member State of identification before registering for the Union scheme.

Established in an EU country, selling across borders above the EU-wide threshold

• Union scheme (One Stop Shop): Available (optional). Once the threshold is exceeded the place of supply of intra-Community distance sales is the Member State where transport of the goods ends. Conditions to check: Use of the OSS is optional; the alternative is registering in each Member State of consumption.

Established in an EU country, selling across borders within the EU-wide threshold

• Union scheme (One Stop Shop): Available (optional). The supplier may choose to apply the general place-of-supply rules (Member State where transport of the goods ends) and is then bound for two calendar years. Conditions to check: The page does not state in this sentence how the option is exercised (by registering for the Union scheme or in the destination Member States).
• Ordinary VAT registration in a Member State: Depends: conditions to check. Below the threshold, these sales stay subject to VAT under the rules of your own Member State, and the Union scheme is not relevant for them. Conditions to check: Applies only if the supplier is established in only one Member State and total cross-border supplies do not exceed EUR 10,000 (excl. VAT) in the current and preceding calendar year; goods must be dispatched from the Member State of establishment.

Each situation uses only the answers written in its title and assumes no marketplace. Change the answers in the checker.

What the official pages state for Germany

What we do not cover

These matters may affect you. We have not covered them, so nothing on this page says anything about them.

• Services, including digital services (the Union scheme also covers some services, and the non-Union scheme covers services supplied by non-EU businesses)
• Sales to businesses (reverse charge and VAT numbers of customers)
• Imports of goods in consignments above EUR 150 (ordinary import VAT at customs; the import scheme does not cover them)
• Excise goods such as alcohol and tobacco
• Customs duty on imports
• Each country's own registration thresholds, small-business exemptions and special regimes for domestic supplies
• Reduced and special VAT rates, and regional rates (we show the standard rate only)
• Territories outside the EU VAT area, and Northern Ireland rules for goods
• What you must do yourself when an online marketplace is the deemed supplier
• VAT schemes of the UK, Switzerland, Norway and other non-EU countries
• Planned changes to EU VAT rules (such as the VAT in the Digital Age package)

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