Invoicing guide
Invoicing in Germany
VAT — how it works, what an invoice needs, and where the numbers come from.
Data as of 2026-07-19. Sources: www.gesetze-im-internet.de (opens in new tab), www.vatupdate.com (opens in new tab), edicomgroup.com (opens in new tab).
This is general guidance, not tax advice — verify with your tax authority.
The tax regime
Germany taxes most sales under a VAT system (regime type: vat). The document title Ochre prints is “Invoice.”
Tax registration number
The tax registration number for Germany is labelled Umsatzsteuer-Identifikationsnummer (USt-IdNr.) on an Ochre invoice.
Format: "DE", then 9 digits.
Registration & thresholds
Kleinunternehmerregelung (§19 UStG small-business exemption): a resident business below the annual turnover threshold may invoice without VAT. Ochre does not set that figure for you — confirm the current one before you rely on it. Non-established (foreign) businesses have no threshold at all: register from the first taxable German supply.
Rates
| Standard (19%) | 19% |
|---|---|
| Reduced (7%) | 7% |
| Zero-rated (0%) | 0% |
| Exempt | 0% |
| Out of scope | 0% |
Rates shown above are for Domestic supply; this pack also defines Intra-Community B2B (reverse charge) and Export (outside EU) for cross-border or special-case supplies.
This pack also defines an “Intra-Community B2B (reverse charge)” table — intra-EU B2B supplies can qualify for the reverse charge.
Price display
Ochre's default for Germany is tax-exclusive pricing on a line item.
For consumer-facing (B2C) prices, the displayed price must include tax.
Rounding
Tax is rounded half up, applied once per tax rate on the invoice, to a precision of 0.01.
Mandatory invoice fields
- Seller's tax registration number
- Customer's tax registration number (B2B)
- Sequential invoice number
- Issue date
- Date of supply
- Tax broken down by rate
- Reverse-charge statement (where it applies)
Fiscal year & dates
The fiscal year starts January 1. Dates print in DD.MM.YYYY order.
Currency
EUR (€), shown to 2 decimal places.
E-invoicing
Mandatory B2B e-invoicing phases in under the Wachstumschancengesetz. Phase 1 (1 Jan 2025): all businesses must be able to RECEIVE e-invoices (in force). Phase 2 (1 Jan 2027): businesses with turnover > €800,000 must ISSUE EN 16931-format e-invoices for domestic B2B. Phase 3 (1 Jan 2028): extends to ALL businesses. Ochre v1 is advisory only — no SdI/platform integration.