FAQ - British and Northern Irish taxpayers
VAT return
|
|
Date of submission |
payment due date |
|---|---|---|
|
monthly VAT return - in the year in which the business is opened and in the following year (irrespective of the amount of VAT) or - VAT in the previous year is higher than EUR 7,500 or - Refund in the previous year is higher than EUR 7,500 (on request) |
On the 10th day following the end of the respective month (for example: The VAT return for the month of January is due on 10. February) |
Payment: with submission of the VAT return Reimbursement: Payment after approval of the tax office |
|
quarterly VAT return - VAT in previous year is lower than EUR 7,500 but higher than EUR 1,000 - Refund (on request) |
On the 10th day following the end of the respective quarter (for example: The VAT return for the month of January-March is due on 10. April) |
Payment: with submission of the VAT return Reimbursement: Payment after approval of the tax office |
|
annual VAT return (must be submitted each year, regardless of the amount of turnover) |
Principle: 31. July after the end of the calendar year (e.g. assessment period 2019 is due on 31. July 2020) For tax advice: 28. February of the year after next Deviations due to the pandemic: 2022: 31.07.2024 2023: 02.06.2025 2024: 30.04.2026 |
Payment: If the tax has been calculated differently from the monthly/quarterly VAT returns and an additional payment is to be made, the additional payment is due within one month after submission Reimbursement: Payment after approval of the tax office |
What do I have to do if there is an additional payment in the annual VAT return?
If the tax has been calculated differently from the monthly/quarterly VAT returns and an additional payment is to be made, the additional payment is due within one month after submission.
Please always state your tax number, company name and the tax assessment period in the subject line. It does not matter which of the two bank accounts you choose.
The bank accounts of the tax office Hannover-Nord can be found here.
You also have the option of providing the tax office with a SEPA Direct Debit Mandate. You can find further information here.
If the VAT is not paid by the due date, a late payment surcharge of 1% of the tax arises for each month thereof.
You can easily avoid this by issuing a SEPA direct debit mandate to the tax office Hannover-Nord. You can find further details here.
The free online portal ''Mein ELSTER'' (www.elster.de) is available for submitting VAT returns. To use it, a registration is necessary.
As part of the registration process, a letter is automatically sent to the company's stored address (never to the address of a receiving agent). It is therefore important that a valid address is stored with the tax office. The whole process can take 2 to 3 weeks.
Here you will find instructions for registration.
After your login on www.elster.de you go to
Formulare & Leistungen (= forms & services)
Alle Formulare (= all forms)
Umsatzsteuer (= value added tax)
You click on Umsatzsteuervoranmeldung (= monthly / quarterly VAT return)
If you choose Umsatzsteuererklärung, you can fill out the yearly form.
Hints for online sellers for filling out the VAT returns from 01.01.2021 onwards
Since 01.01.2021 Great Britain is a third country due to the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union. This does not apply to deliveries from Northern Ireland to Germany!
Instead, the following applies since 01.01.2021:
If you deliver goods from Great Britain to German private customers in the future, these deliveries must be declared as imports to German customs. German import VAT may incur in the process. Consequently, the delivery threshold of 100,000 euros (§ 3c UStG) no longer applies!Should you pay this import VAT for your customers (duty paid and taxed), then the deliveries from Great Britain to Germany are taxable in Germany and you can declare the paid import VAT to the German tax office as input tax..
This (taxation in Germany) also applies if you as an entrepreneur deal with customs clearance and no import VAT is due (e.g. because the value of the goods is less than 22 euros until 30.06.2021).
| tax rate 19 % | tax rate 7% | input VAT (import VAT) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| yearly return | main form, page 4 - C., line 22 | main form, page 4 - C. line 25 | main form, page 11 - J., line 81 |
| monthly/ quarterly return | box no. 81 (page 3, line 12) |
box no. 86 (page 3, line 13) |
box no. 62 (page 7, line 39) |
If the German customer is responsible for the import VAT (customs duty unpaid), then your supplies are not taxable in Germany. Please contact the British authorities if you have any questions regarding the possible taxation of such transactions in the UK Should you want to use warehouses in the European Union in the future, you need an EORI number of a member state of the European Union for the import of goods. British companies have the possibility to request a German EORI number (assuming it does not have an EORI number in an other EU state).
You can find the form for applying for an EORI number on the following website: http://www.formulare-bfinv.de/ffw/action/invoke.do?id=0870en_a (Application form: 0870en_a).
BUT:
Distance sellers non resident in the EU will need to appoint an indirect representative, who is resident in the EU (e.g. a reliable customs agent or freight forwarder) to assist in handling imports into Germany.
Please note that deliveries from a German warehouse are taxable in Germany - regardless of a delivery threshold:
| tax rate 19 % | tax rate 7 % | |
|---|---|---|
| yearly return | main form, page 4 - C., line 22 | main form, page 4, line 25 |
| monthly/ quarterly return | box no. 81 (page 3, line 12) |
box no. 86 (page 3, line13) |
Hints for online sellers, who are trading via an electronic interface, for filling out the VAT returns from 01.07.2021 onwards
On 01. July 2021 new legal regulations have come into force as part of the digital packet, including those relating to online sales via an electronic interface. An electronic interface means an online marketplace, such as Amazon, eBay or Alibaba.
The new legal regulation about sales via an electronic interface affects entrepreneurs who are based in third countries (including Great Britain but excluding Northern Ireland) and use warehouses in the European Union (EU). It also applies to entrepreneurs who deliver goods with a shipment value of up to €150 from a third country to Germany.
From 01. July 2021 sales to customers via an electronic interface will be separated into two deliveries for VAT purposes. There will be your delivery to the electronic interface, and then also a delivery by the electronic interface to the customer. In Germany, VAT will only be charged on the delivery of the electronic interface to the customer. You do not have to declare any VAT on your delivery in Germany.
In the following you have an overview about possible situations that have to be declared in the upcoming VAT returns:
1.) Should you use a warehouse in Germany, the following transactions must be recorded in your VAT return, depending on the circumstances:
a) If the goods are imported from the third country to Germany and brought into a warehouse there, the import VAT paid can be claimed as input tax in the VAT return.
b) If goods are transferred into the German warehouse from another EU member state, a taxable intra-community acquisition must be declared in Germany. The VAT on the intra-community acquisition can be deducted as input tax.
c) If goods are transferred into a warehouse from another EU member state, a tax-free intra-community supply must be declared in Germany. This must also be reported to the Federal Central Tax Office in the recapitulative statements.
d) If the goods are sold to a German customer or a customer in another member state of the EU, the “fictional delivery” to the electronic interface is taxable in Germany but tax-free according to § 4 No. 4c of the German VAT code.
In the sales tax returns, the transactions shall be recorded as follows:
|
a) input VAT (import VAT) |
b) Intra-community acquisition tax rate 19 % |
b) Intra-community acquisition tax rate 7 % |
|
|
yearly VAT return |
main form, page 11 - J., line 81 |
main form, page 6 - E., line 51 |
main form, page 6 - E., line 52 |
| monthly/ quarterly VAT return |
box no. 62 |
box no. 89
(page 4, line 24) |
box no. 93
(page 4, line 25) |
|
b) input-VAT (intra-community acquisition) |
c) Intra-community supply |
d) tax-free supply |
|
|
yearly VAT return |
main form, page 11 - J., line 80 |
main form, page 5, line 38 |
main form, page 5 - D., line 42 |
| monthly/ quarterly VAT return |
box no. 61 (page 7, line 38) |
box no. 41 |
box no. 43
(page 3, line 21) |
2.) Should you use a warehouse in the EU (not Germany) and start your supplies to German customers there, you will not have taxable sales in Germany. Please inform yourself about the taxation at the place of departure.
3.) Should you not use a warehouse in the EU (including Germany), but make sales with a direct delivery from a third country to German private customers, the “fictional delivery” from you to the electronic interface is taxable in the third country under the regulations applicable there. This only applies for sales with a value of goods of up to 150 €
4.) Should you make distance sales with a value of goods of more than 150 € from a third country to German private customers and you are responsible for the declaration at the customs as well as the payment of the import VAT for your customers (duty paid and taxed), then the deliveries from the third country to Germany are considered taxable in Germany. You have to declare the deliveries to the customers and can claim the paid import VAT as input tax at the German tax office.
In the sales tax returns, the transactions shall be recorded as follows:
|
tax rate 19 % |
tax rate 7 % |
input VAT (import VAT) |
|
|
yearly VAT return |
main form, page 4 - C., line 22 |
main form, page 4 - C., line 25 |
main form, page 11 - J., line 81 |
|
monthly/ quarterly VAT return |
box no. 81 (page 3, line 12) |
box no. 86 (page 3, line 13) |
box no. 62 (page 7, line 39) |
If the German customer is responsible for the import VAT (customs duty unpaid), then your supplies are not taxable in Germany. Please contact the responsible authorities if you have any questions regarding a possible taxation of such transactions in the state where the supply started.
Special conditions for online retailers based in Northern Ireland
1) Sale via own website
Northern Ireland will continue to be treated as an EU country with regard to the supply of goods after 1 January 2021. Deliveries of goods from Northern Ireland to private customers in Germany are taxable in Germany under the conditions of § 3c German VAT Law if the delivery threshold of 10,000 euros was exceeded in the previous or current year. The calculation of the delivery threshold is based on corresponding deliveries to the entire EU and no longer only on deliveries to Germany.
Recording of net turnover:
| tax rate 19 % | tax rate 7 % | |
| yearly return | main form, page 4 - C., line 22 |
main form, page 4 - C., line 25 |
| monthly/quarterly return | box no. 81 (page 3, line 12) |
box no. 86 page 3, line 13) |
In the yearly return, this net turnover must also be entered on Annex UN, page 4 - D, line 20.
Alternatively, from 1. July 2021, a declaration of all distance sales in the EU using the OSS procedure in Northern Ireland is possible.
If the goods are not sent to customers directly from other EU countries, but via a German warehouse or dispatch centre, all distance selling deliveries from the German warehouse to customers within Germany are taxable in Germany regardless of a delivery threshold.
No entry on Annex UN is required for these transactions.
In this case, a transfer in the country from which the goods are shipped to Germany must be reported to the relevant Federal Central Tax Office/Central Liaison Office via the ZM (EC Sales List).
In Germany, the intra-Community acquisition must be recorded as follows:
| tax rate 19 % | tax rate 7 % | input VAT from intra-community acquisitions | |
|---|---|---|---|
yearly return |
main form, page 6 -E., line 51 |
main form, page 6 - E., line 52 |
main form, page 11 - J., line 80 |
| monthly/ quarterly return |
box no. 89 (page 4, line 24) |
box no. 93 (page 4, line 25) |
box no. 63 (page 7, line 38) |
2) Sale via electronic marketplaces
The delivery chain fiction described above with the electronic marketplace applies in the following cases:
- Deliveries of goods from the third country directly to the final customer with a value of less than 150 euros
- Supplies by a trader established in a third country
To determine the establishment of the trader, the legal domicile is not taken into account, but the place of management and the existence of a permanent establishment for VAT purposes. If there is only an office service address in Northern Ireland, but the place of management is in a third country, the company is deemed to be established in a third country for VAT purposes.