Key Takeaways
- Your first VAT return covers your first complete calendar month after registration. The deadline is the 10th of the following month (§18 UStG).
- You only need 4–6 numbers to file: total German B2C sales (19% and 7% rates), intra-EU B2B sales, exports outside the EU, and input VAT paid on German invoices.
- Submit in the Vaytax dashboard; your licensed Steuerberater reviews and files via DATEV + ELSTER within 1–2 business days.
- SEPA direct debit handles the Finanzamt payment automatically on the deadline date — you don’t need to make manual transfers.
- Even a nil return must be filed on time. Germany requires a return every period, even when you had zero German revenue.
This guide reflects the Vaytax dashboard as of May 2026. The underlying tax rules cite UStG §18 and AO §108(3).
You just got your German Steuernummer — or you signed up with one already in hand. What now? This walkthrough covers the entire process of filing your first German VAT return through Vaytax, from gathering your numbers to seeing the official Nachweis arrive in your inbox.
Total time, once you have your numbers: about 10–15 minutes for the first return, less for subsequent ones.
When to file your first return
German VAT returns (Umsatzsteuervoranmeldung or USt-VA) are filed monthly for new registrations during the first two years. Your first return covers the first complete calendar month after your Steuernummer was issued.
The submission deadline is the 10th of the month following the reporting period. So:
- Period May 2026 → deadline 10 June 2026
- Period June 2026 → deadline 10 July 2026
- Period July 2026 → deadline 10 August 2026
If the 10th lands on a weekend or German public holiday, the deadline shifts to the next working day (§108(3) AO). Vaytax tracks this for you and surfaces the exact date on your dashboard.
What if my Steuernummer arrived mid-month?
If your Steuernummer was issued partway through a month (e.g. May 22), your first reporting period is technically that partial month. If you had no German revenue between May 22 and May 31, file a nil return — Germany still requires the filing. Vaytax pre-fills nil returns with zeros so you only need to confirm and submit.
What you’ll need to gather
You need 4–6 figures for each filing period. Where to find them depends on how your sales are recorded:
If you sell through a marketplace (Amazon FBA, Shopify, eBay)
Each marketplace produces a VAT report with everything Vaytax needs:
- Amazon FBA: download the Amazon VAT Transactions Report from Seller Central → Reports → Tax Document Library. The report breaks out German B2C, intra-EU B2B (with the buyer’s VAT ID), and cross-border movements.
- Shopify: install the official Shopify VAT Reports app (or any third-party VAT report tool). Generate a country-filtered report for Germany, period = the month you’re filing.
- eBay: Seller Hub → Performance → Sales reports → export the German VAT-relevant breakdown.
If you sell directly (own webshop or B2B invoicing)
Your accounting system should produce a VAT register or tax-classified revenue report. The numbers you need:
- Total German B2C sales subject to 19% VAT (standard rate) — net amount
- Total German B2C sales subject to 7% VAT (reduced rate — books, food, public transport, certain printed media) — net amount, if applicable
- Total intra-EU B2B sales (zero-rated, but require the buyer’s valid VAT ID) — net amount
- Total exports outside the EU (zero-rated) — net amount
- Total input VAT paid on German invoices (deductible) — the VAT amount, not the gross
Most systems can produce this in 5–10 minutes. If you’re using a basic spreadsheet, sum each category by VAT rate and currency-convert any non-EUR amounts to EUR using the ECB monthly average rate.
The Vaytax filing wizard, step by step
Once your numbers are ready, the actual filing takes about 10 minutes. The wizard has 5 sub-steps — Sales, Purchases, Cross-border, Review, Submit — with a sticky running total on the right that recomputes as you type.
Open the filing wizard from your dashboard
Go to vaytax.com/dashboard. The dashboard lists every period that’s open for filing. Click the period you want to file and the wizard opens for it.
Step 1 — Sales
The wizard opens on the Sales step. Vaytax shows last month’s values beside each line so you can see what changed; update only the lines that moved. Most months that’s a single number.
Each field is labelled with both its German Kennzahl (Kz) code and a plain-English description. The right sidebar updates the running total in real time as you type.
The most common revenue lines you’ll fill on your first return:
- Standard-rate German B2C sales (19%) — net of VAT. The biggest line for most Amazon FBA, Shopify, and webshop sellers.
- Reduced-rate sales (7%) — if applicable. Books, food, certain printed media, public transport.
- Intra-community supplies — zero-rated B2B sales shipped to customers in other EU member states. Each customer needs a valid VAT ID. If you have any, the wizard surfaces a separate Cross-border step where you list them per buyer for the Zusammenfassende Meldung — covered below.
- Exports outside the EU — zero-rated.
Each line maps to a German Kennzahl (Kz) code — standard-rate sales = Kz 81, reduced-rate = Kz 86, intra-EU B2B = Kz 41, exports = Kz 43. The wizard shows these as small badges so you can cross-reference with your accountant or marketplace VAT report. You don’t need to memorise them.
Step 2 — Purchases (Input VAT)
The single field most foreign sellers use here is input VAT on German invoices — the total VAT amount on every valid German invoice you received this period (storage fees from Amazon DE, fulfillment surcharges, local logistics, professional services). Most marketplace sellers have very little; pure B2B sellers can have substantial amounts.
Important: the invoice must be compliant under §14 UStG — supplier’s VAT ID, your address, sequential invoice number, breakdown of net + VAT amounts. Without these, the input VAT isn’t deductible. Receipts that just show a gross total don’t qualify.
The Purchases step also has fields for goods bought from other EU suppliers (intra-community acquisitions — effectively neutral because you charge yourself output VAT and deduct it as input VAT in the same return) and import VAT paid at customs. If you don’t use either, leave them at zero.
Step 3 — Cross-border (the most complicated step)
If your business is German B2C only, this step is empty — click straight through. Everyone else: read carefully. Cross-border has three concerns rolled into one step.
3a. Intra-EU B2B sales → the ZM (Zusammenfassende Meldung)
The Zusammenfassende Meldung is a separate filing the German tax office requires alongside your VAT return whenever you make zero-rated supplies to VAT-registered customers in other EU member states. It lists, per buyer, per period, the customer’s VAT ID and the total net amount you invoiced them. The Finanzamt cross-checks this against the buyer’s own VAT return in their country — mismatches trigger audits on both sides.
The Vaytax wizard surfaces a per-row table for the ZM whenever your Sales step has any intra-EU B2B revenue. For each row you provide:
- Buyer’s country (two-letter ISO, e.g. FR, IT, NL)
- Buyer’s VAT ID (Vaytax validates each one against the EU’s VIES system live as you type — invalid IDs surface a warning before you can submit)
- Total net amount you invoiced that buyer in this period (in EUR — convert non-EUR sums per the rule below)
The ZM has its own legal deadline: the 25th of the month following the reporting period (so a May ZM is due 25 June, not 10 June like the VAT return itself). When you submit through Vaytax, both files are prepared together and Stiller files them together via ELSTER — you don’t need to track two deadlines.
3b. Reverse-charge services (received from foreign businesses)
If you bought services from a non-German business — advertising from Google Ireland, software subscriptions from Stripe, consulting from a UK firm — the reverse-charge mechanism applies. You self-account for the German VAT on those purchases: charge yourself 19% as output VAT (Kz 46/47 on the form) and deduct the same amount as input VAT in the same return. Net effect on your filing is zero, but both sides must be reported. The wizard handles the duplication automatically when you confirm the question “Did you receive services from businesses outside Germany?”
3c. Reverse-charge services (provided to other EU B2B customers)
If you sold services (not goods) to VAT-registered customers in other EU member states, those sales go on a different line and also appear on the ZM, but with a special service code. The Vaytax wizard asks specifically “Did you provide services to EU businesses?” — tick yes only if you sold services, not physical goods. (Goods to EU B2B customers are intra-community supplies covered in 3a above.)
3d. Currency conversion for non-EUR amounts
If your invoices to EU B2B customers are in GBP, USD, SEK, or other non-EUR currencies, convert each amount using the ECB monthly average rate for the period. (Daily rate per invoice is also acceptable but more work.) The wizard accepts EUR amounts only; convert before you enter. Don’t use the year-end rate — the Finanzamt recalculates with the right rate and you’ll get a correction notice.
Step 4 — Review
The wizard sums everything: output VAT minus input VAT. If positive, that’s what you owe the Finanzamt. If negative, that’s your refund.
Step 5 — Submit
Tick the confirmation box and click Submit. Your filing is now in the Vaytax queue.
What happens after you submit
Submitting in Vaytax doesn’t file the return with the Finanzamt directly. Here’s the actual sequence:
- Within minutes: your Steuerberater receives a notification. Vaytax generates a DATEV-compatible CSV from your figures.
- 1–2 business days: your Steuerberater reviews the figures, imports the CSV into DATEV, and files the return via ELSTER.
- The same day as the ELSTER filing: you receive an email confirming the filing was submitted, with the calculated payable or refund amount.
- 1–5 business days later: the Finanzamt acknowledges receipt. We upload the official Nachweis PDF to your Vaytax dashboard. You receive an email when it’s available.
You don’t need to do anything during this sequence. Reply to any of the emails if you have questions.
How VAT payment works
If your filing has a positive balance (you owe VAT), the Finanzamt collects automatically from your IBAN on the deadline date via SEPA direct debit — provided you authorised the SEPA mandate during signup. No manual bank transfer needed.
If you didn’t authorise SEPA, Vaytax surfaces the Finanzamt’s bank details on the filing-success screen so you can transfer manually. The reference must follow the format: Stnr · Company · UStVA MM-YYYY.
If your filing has a negative balance (the Finanzamt owes you), refunds typically arrive within 4–6 weeks via your IBAN. Refunds for first filings can take a bit longer because the Finanzamt usually asks for invoice copies on the first refund — this is normal due diligence.
Common mistakes on first filings
Three things that trip up most foreign sellers on their first German VAT return:
1. Mixing gross and net amounts
Sales fields take net amounts (excluding VAT). The input VAT field takes the VAT amount, not the gross invoice total. Vaytax surfaces a warning if your numbers look mismatched (e.g. the output VAT we calculate doesn’t roughly match what you’d expect from the net), but the responsibility is yours to enter clean numbers.
2. Forgetting the ZM (Zusammenfassende Meldung)
If you sold zero-rated to EU B2B customers, each transaction needs to be listed in the ZM with the buyer’s VAT ID and the total per buyer per period. Vaytax surfaces the ZM section automatically when you have any intra-EU B2B revenue. Submit it together with the VAT return — the ZM’s legal deadline is actually the 25th of the following month, two weeks later than the VAT return itself, but it’s simpler to do both at once.
3. Currency conversion shortcuts
If your accounting is in GBP, USD, or other non-EUR currency, convert each transaction at the ECB monthly average rate for the period (or the daily rate if your invoices are in different months). Don’t use the year-end rate — the Finanzamt will recalculate using the right rate and you’ll get a correction notice.
What if I have more complex sales?
The walkthrough above covers the typical foreign-VAT-registered seller. If your sales are more complex — reverse-charge B2B services, OSS thresholds, distance selling regime, mixed-rate invoices — the same wizard handles them, but the field selection differs. Reach out via your dashboard inbox before filing your first return; Vaytax will pre-configure your filing template based on your specific sales pattern.
Filing on time, every month
Once your first filing is in, the rhythm is monthly. Vaytax sends you a reminder 5 days before each deadline and again on the morning of the deadline if the filing is still open. Most clients build a routine: first weekend of the month, pull the marketplace report, log in to Vaytax, file in 5 minutes.
If you’re consistently filing more than 1–2 days before the deadline, ask your Steuerberater about Dauerfristverlängerung — a permanent one-month deadline extension that gives you breathing room. It costs nothing extra and makes filing on time substantially easier. Read more in our guide: German VAT Return Deadlines 2026.
Already a Vaytax customer?
Open your dashboard and pick the period to file. The wizard walks you through the rest in 10–15 minutes.
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Frequently Asked Questions
I just got my Steuernummer mid-month. When does my first filing window open?
Your first reporting period is the partial month from your Steuernummer issue date to the end of that calendar month. If you had no German revenue in those days, file a nil return — Vaytax pre-fills it with zeros and you confirm and submit. Even nil returns must be filed on time, otherwise the €25 minimum penalty (Verspätungszuschlag) applies.
Do I have to file every month, or can I file quarterly?
New VAT registrations file monthly for the first two calendar years (§18(2) UStG). After that, the Finanzamt may switch you to quarterly filings if your prior-year VAT was below €7,500. Vaytax tracks this and notifies you when you’re eligible.
What if I made a mistake on my filing?
You can file a corrected return (Berichtigte UStVA) at any time before the assessment is finalised. In the Vaytax dashboard, open the filing → click Re-file. The wizard pre-fills your last submission so you can adjust the affected fields. Each re-filing creates a new version (v2, v3, …) so the audit trail is preserved — standard practice under §153 AO.
Is my SEPA mandate already active for the first filing?
Yes — if you authorised SEPA during signup, the mandate becomes active when your Steuernummer is registered with the Finanzamt. The first VAT direct debit follows your first filing’s deadline. The amount on your bank statement will reference your Steuernummer and the period, e.g. Stnr 206/123/12345 · UStVA 05-2026.
How do I know my filing was actually submitted to the Finanzamt?
You receive two emails: one when your Steuerberater files via ELSTER, and one when the Finanzamt acknowledges receipt. The acknowledgement email includes a download link for the official Nachweis PDF — this is your proof of timely filing and your only legal record. Save it; the Finanzamt does not re-issue lost copies.
What if the Finanzamt audits my return?
The Finanzamt may request documentation for any return, especially the first ones from a foreign company. Typical requests: copies of the invoices behind input VAT (Kz 66), proof of the buyer’s VAT ID for intra-EU sales (Kz 41), and shipping documentation for exports outside the EU (Kz 43). Vaytax forwards any request to you with a deadline; respond through your dashboard inbox and your Steuerberater handles the formal reply. Most audits resolve within 2–4 weeks.