Vaytax vs amavat: Which German VAT Service Is the Right Fit?

Vaytax Editorial Team

Licensed tax advisor · files with the Finanzamt

Vaytax is operated by FRADECO GmbH tax advisory firm, a Franco-German tax advisory firm specialising in cross-border German VAT compliance for international businesses. We file directly via ELSTER under our Steuerberater licence.

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What each company is

amavat is a VAT compliance service operating through the HLB international accounting network (HLB Global), a top-10 global accounting alliance with member firms in 153 countries. amavat coordinates indirect-tax compliance across many EU jurisdictions by routing the actual work to the local HLB-affiliated firm in each country: registrations, VAT returns, Intrastat and EC Sales lists, tax-authority correspondence, audit support. From the seller's perspective, amavat provides a single point of contact who coordinates with the local firms behind the scenes.

Vaytax is the customer-facing brand of FRADECO GmbH tax advisory firm, a German Steuerberatungsgesellschaft registered with the Steuerberaterkammer Rheinland-Pfalz. Vaytax is intentionally Germany-only: every customer's return is prepared in-house, in DATEV, and submitted via ELSTER by the same licensed Steuerberater team. There is no multi-country coordination layer because there is no other country to coordinate with. The fee is fixed: €499 one-time for registration, €79/month for ongoing compliance.

Side-by-side comparison

When amavat is the right choice

amavat genuinely fits sellers whose VAT compliance burden is multi-country from day one. Three concrete scenarios:

• Pan-EU FBA seller in 5+ countries. If your Amazon Pan-EU inventory is spread across Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Poland (the Pan-EU FBA core) plus the Netherlands and Belgium, the per-country setup overhead of registering in each is substantial. A single contract with amavat coordinating five-plus registrations is a meaningful simplification over hiring five-plus local tax advisors.
• Enterprise seller with consolidated procurement. Large e-commerce operators sometimes have a corporate policy of single-vendor contracts. The HLB network's institutional credibility (top-10 global accounting alliance) satisfies procurement and audit-trail requirements that a small specialist firm cannot.
• Established cross-border B2B operator. If your business involves Intrastat declarations, EC Sales lists in multiple countries, and complex import/export VAT recovery across the EU, a pan-EU service has the scope that fits.

When Vaytax is the right choice

Vaytax fits sellers for whom Germany is the only meaningful jurisdiction, or sellers who want a Germany-specialist setup paired with OSS or other local arrangements for non-German countries:

• Foreign Amazon FBA seller with German inventory. You ship to Germany via FBA DE, your B2C cross-border to other EU countries is covered by OSS, and Germany is the only place you need a local VAT registration. A multi-country provider is paying for scope you do not use.
• Shopify or DTC seller using a German 3PL. Same logic. Germany is the trigger; OSS covers the rest. A fixed-price German specialist matches the actual obligation.
• Seller who has received a Finanzamt letter. If your immediate problem is a Schätzbescheid, Mahnung or Anhörung rather than ongoing monthly filing, Vaytax's one-shot letter-intake service returns a fixed-price quote within 1-2 business days with no subscription requirement. amavat does not publish a comparable single-letter response service.
• Cost-sensitive seller who wants pricing certainty. Vaytax publishes fixed pricing; amavat does not. If predictable monthly costs matter for your unit economics, the fixed-price model removes a variable.
• Seller who values direct Steuerberater conversation. Vaytax's Steuerberater is on the same team that handles the client area. There is no affiliate-coordination layer between question and answer.

Switching from amavat to Vaytax

Switching mid-year is routine and takes one to two weeks in most cases. The steps:

1. Cancel amavat's German VAT service per their contract terms. Their notice period is set in the agreement.
2. Grant Vaytax a new Vollmacht (power of attorney) with the Finanzamt. The new Vollmacht supersedes the prior advisor's authority, and the Finanzamt updates its records so all future correspondence reaches Vaytax.
3. Transfer historical bookkeeping and any DATEV exports. amavat's German affiliate can produce DATEV-compatible exports on request; Vaytax imports them into its own DATEV environment and continues from there.
4. Pending Bescheide and audits move with the new Vollmacht. The Finanzamt does not invalidate prior decisions on a change of advisor; whatever is in flight continues, but the new firm handles future correspondence.

You do not need to wait until year-end. The Finanzamt processes Vollmacht changes any time, and the next monthly USt-Voranmeldung deadline is the natural break point.

What this means in practice

Most foreign sellers who reach this comparison page have one of two profiles. If your business is Germany-anchored (inventory in DE, German Finanzamt is your main tax-office relationship, you are not yet active in 4+ EU countries), Vaytax's fixed-price specialist setup typically lands at a lower total cost and a tighter feedback loop than a multi-country provider whose scope outweighs your actual obligation. If your business is genuinely pan-EU from day one, with substantive obligations in five or more EU countries simultaneously, a pan-EU coordinator like amavat is doing real work for you, not selling unused scope.

The realistic decision is not "which one is better in the abstract" but "which one matches the shape of your obligation." Vaytax is the right answer for the Germany-anchored shape; amavat is the right answer for the pan-EU-from-day-one shape. We publish this comparison because we want sellers who fit the second shape to recognise it and pick the right tool, not because we want to pretend Vaytax fits every situation.

Frequently asked questions

What is the main difference between Vaytax and amavat?

Vaytax is a Germany-only VAT specialist, with every return prepared and submitted by a licensed German Steuerberater on the in-house team. amavat is a pan-EU VAT compliance service operating through the HLB international accounting network, with one point of contact coordinating local affiliate firms across multiple countries. If you only need German VAT, Vaytax is the specialist setup. If you need VAT compliance in 4 or more EU countries from one contract, amavat's multi-country model is the closer fit.

How does pricing compare between Vaytax and amavat?

Vaytax publishes fixed pricing: €499 one-time registration plus €79/month for ongoing compliance, or €853/year (10% saving). No per-transaction fees, no per-marketplace surcharges. amavat does not publish pricing publicly; their quote-based model varies by country count and seller volume. Sellers needing only German VAT typically find Vaytax cheaper because Vaytax is not bundling multi-country overhead they will not use.

Does amavat have in-house Steuerberater?

amavat coordinates local tax advisors through the HLB international network. For Germany specifically, the actual filing is handled by an HLB-affiliated German tax firm, which is a licensed setup but operates at one degree of separation from the client. Vaytax is the opposite arrangement: the Steuerberater is on Vaytax's own team, the customer talks directly to the same firm that files the return, and there is no affiliate-coordination layer.

Can I switch from amavat to Vaytax mid-year?

Yes. The switch involves (1) cancelling amavat's German VAT service per their contract terms; (2) granting Vaytax a new Vollmacht (power of attorney) with the German Finanzamt, which supersedes the prior advisor's authority; (3) transferring the historical bookkeeping and prior-period DATEV exports if available. Most switches complete in one to two weeks. Pending Bescheide and audits move with the new Vollmacht.

Does Vaytax handle pan-EU compliance?

No. Vaytax is intentionally Germany-only. Sellers with cross-border B2C activity who need VAT registration in multiple EU countries either use OSS (One-Stop Shop) for the cross-border B2C portion, or keep a separate provider for the other countries. Vaytax customers often run a hybrid: Vaytax for Germany (where they have inventory and need a local registration), OSS for cross-border to other EU countries.

Does Vaytax include the Finanzamt letter-response service?

Yes. Vaytax subscribers get routine Finanzamt correspondence handled as part of the monthly fee. Vaytax also offers a one-shot letter-intake service for non-subscribers: send a Schätzbescheid, Mahnung, Anhörung or other tax-office letter and receive a fixed-price quote within 1-2 business days. amavat does not publish a comparable one-shot service; their model is subscription-based ongoing compliance.