Key Takeaways
- Germany sets your VAT filing rhythm from last year's VAT liability, not your turnover or your preference.
- Over €9,000 files monthly; €2,000 to €9,000 files quarterly; €2,000 or below can be exempted from preliminary returns entirely (thresholds raised for 2025).
- New registrations are generally placed on monthly filing to start with, then reviewed as real figures come in.
- Everyone files the annual return regardless. For a business exempted from preliminary returns, the annual return is its whole German VAT year.
Information verified by Vaytax as of July 2026. Sources: UStG §18, AO §149, Wachstumschancengesetz (thresholds effective 1 January 2025).
Foreign companies registered for German VAT often assume they choose how often they file. You do not. The Finanzamt assigns your filing frequency from a single number: how much VAT you owed the year before. That one figure decides whether you file twelve preliminary returns a year, four, or none at all beyond the annual return. This guide explains the three rhythms, the exact thresholds that separate them, and why the annual return sits above all of it.
The two returns you might file
German VAT compliance has two distinct returns, and confusing them is the most common source of filing-frequency questions.
- The preliminary VAT return (Umsatzsteuervoranmeldung, UStVA) is the one whose frequency changes. You file it monthly, quarterly, or not at all. It is a prepayment toward the year.
- The annual VAT return (Umsatzsteuererklärung) is filed once a year by every registered business, no matter what the preliminary rhythm is. It reconciles the whole year and produces the final position. We cover it in detail in the German annual VAT return guide.
So "how often do I file?" really means "how often do I file the preliminary UStVA?" The annual return is a constant on top.
The three preliminary-filing rhythms
Since 1 January 2025 (thresholds raised by the Wachstumschancengesetz), the preliminary-return rhythm is set by your prior calendar year's VAT liability, the Umsatzsteuer-Zahllast, meaning the VAT you owed after deducting input VAT.
| Prior-year VAT liability | Preliminary rhythm | Returns per year | Annual return |
|---|---|---|---|
| Over €9,000 | Monthly UStVA | 12 | Yes, plus 1 |
| €2,000 to €9,000 | Quarterly UStVA | 4 | Yes, plus 1 |
| €2,000 or below | Exempt (Finanzamt can waive preliminary returns) | 0 | Yes, the only return |
The €9,000 line (raised from €7,500 for 2025) is the boundary between monthly and quarterly. The €2,000 line (raised from €1,000 for 2025) is the boundary below which the Finanzamt can drop preliminary returns altogether. Both figures are the prior year's liability, so your current year's rhythm is set by what already happened.
Annual-only status: the group most people miss
The bottom row is the one foreign sellers overlook. If your German VAT liability for the prior year was €2,000 or less, the Finanzamt can exempt you from preliminary returns entirely. When that happens, the annual return is your only German VAT filing for the year: one form, once, and nothing monthly or quarterly in between.
This is common for smaller foreign sellers, businesses whose German output is mostly reverse-charge B2B, or holding structures with only occasional German transactions. Two things are worth knowing about it:
- The exemption is discretionary. The law says the Finanzamt can waive preliminary returns at or below €2,000 (kann befreien), not that it must. In practice it is routinely granted, but it is the office's decision, and it can require preliminary returns anyway.
- The annual return still has to be right, and it still has a deadline. Annual-only does not mean low-stakes, it means the whole year rides on a single filing.
Annual-only and looking for someone to file it? The annual return, what it contains and how it is filed, is covered in the German annual VAT return guide. It is part of every Vaytax plan from tax year 2026, and past years can be added at €499 one-time each.
Why new registrations usually start monthly
A brand-new registration has no prior-year liability to sort it into a rhythm. In practice, foreign companies are generally placed on monthly filing to begin with: the Finanzamt assigns frequency based on the VAT it expects a new business to owe, and monthly is the conservative default while it has no history to go on.
That is not a permanent sentence. Once a full prior year exists, the rhythm is reviewed against the actual liability and can move to quarterly, or down to annual-only, if the figures support it. If you are registered and filing monthly on low volumes, it is worth checking whether your prior-year liability now puts you in a lighter band.
Dauerfristverlängerung: more time, same rhythm
Filing frequency is separate from filing deadline. Monthly and quarterly filers can apply once for a Dauerfristverlängerung, a permanent one-month extension on every preliminary deadline. A return normally due on the 10th then falls due on the 10th of the following month instead. Monthly filers pay a Sondervorauszahlung (a deposit of 1/11 of the prior year's VAT) to get it; quarterly filers do not. It changes when you file, never how often. The full mechanics are in the German VAT deadline calendar.
What this means for a foreign seller
Three practical takeaways:
- You cannot pick your rhythm, but you can predict it. Work out your prior-year German VAT liability and read it off the table above. That is what the Finanzamt will use.
- The annual return is non-negotiable. Whether you file monthly, quarterly, or nothing preliminary, the annual Umsatzsteuererklärung is due every year the registration exists, including nil years and the final year before deregistration.
- Frequency can change year to year. A rhythm set at registration is not fixed. Growing across €9,000 pulls you into monthly; a quiet year at or under €2,000 can drop you to annual-only.
If you are not sure which rhythm applies to you, or you are on monthly filing and suspect you should not be, a licensed German tax advisor can confirm your band and, where appropriate, request a change from the Finanzamt.