German VAT for Chinese Companies.
Amazon.de compliance, handled properly.

Why Chinese sellers need German VAT (fast)

Chinese companies selling on Amazon.de are the largest single group targeted by German marketplace VAT enforcement. The chain of obligations is straightforward and strict:

1. Amazon FBA inventory lands in DE. The moment your goods arrive at a German Amazon warehouse (DE1 Werne, DE2 Rheinberg, DE3 Graben, DE4 Bad Hersfeld, etc.), you have a German taxable presence.
2. Amazon enforces §25e UStG. Under German marketplace liability rules, Amazon can be held jointly liable for unpaid VAT from sellers on its platform. This is why Amazon Seller Central demands a German USt-IdNr. from Chinese sellers and suspends listings if not provided.
3. OSS runs through Germany once your stock is here. A Chinese company can't use a home-country OSS, but storing goods in a German warehouse makes Germany your OSS member state of identification, so your B2C sales to consumers across the EU go on one quarterly Union OSS return filed through Germany, on top of the local German VAT registration the stock requires.
4. Finanzamt enforcement is separate from Amazon. Even if Amazon is collecting VAT on your behalf via §25e, you still need your own registration for any non-marketplace sales, and the tax office can assess unpaid VAT retroactively from your first taxable supply.

The fiscal rep trap: €1–3k/year for nothing

This is the single biggest cost trap for Chinese sellers. Many providers market "fiscal representation" services specifically to Chinese Amazon sellers, implying it's a German legal requirement. It is not. Germany does not require fiscal representation for Chinese (or any other non-EU) companies for standard VAT compliance.

The providers charging €1,000–€3,000/year for fiscal rep are offering a service Germany does not require. A licensed tax advisor acting as your tax agent under §3 StBerG is sufficient. See our fiscal representation guide.

Finanzamt Berlin-Neukölln: the office for Chinese companies

All Chinese companies registering for German VAT are routed to Finanzamt Berlin-Neukölln (in Berlin), regardless of which Chinese province your company is based in, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Beijing, all route to Neukölln. The office has handled Chinese-Germany VAT matters at scale for over a decade and has established workflows for Chinese document review.

Documents required (all translated by a sworn translator if not already in German):

• 营业执照 (Business License) with sworn German translation
• 公司章程 (Articles of Association) with sworn German translation
• 税务登记证 (Tax Registration Certificate)
• Legal representative and director passports
• Proof of Chinese business address
• Completed Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung (tax registration form) in German, we prepare this from your Chinese company data
• SEPA direct debit authorization (typically via Wise/Payoneer EUR account)

Document translation and Apostille: the real timeline driver

For Chinese sellers, the timeline bottleneck is rarely the tax office, it's obtaining sworn German translations of Chinese corporate documents, and in some cases, Apostille or consular legalization. Typical timeline breakdown:

• Document gathering in China: 2–4 weeks (business license certified copy, passport notarizations)
• Sworn translation (中文 → 德文): 1–3 weeks depending on translator availability
• Apostille if required: 2–4 weeks via Chinese foreign ministry / Hague Apostille (China joined in Nov 2023)
• Submission to Finanzamt Berlin-Neukölln: within 48 hours once documents complete
• Finanzamt processing: 4–8 weeks for the Tax ID, 1–2 weeks more for the USt-IdNr.

Total: 8–16 weeks. Well-prepared applications (all translations and Apostilles done before submission) land at the 8–10 week end.

How Chinese companies pay German VAT (SEPA workarounds)

Germany's preferred VAT payment method is SEPA Direct Debit from a EUR-denominated bank account with a SEPA-compatible IBAN. Chinese mainland banks typically cannot issue SEPA IBANs. Standard workarounds:

• Wise Business: free EUR IBAN for Chinese businesses, SEPA-enabled, standard choice
• Payoneer: similar, widely used among Amazon sellers
• Hong Kong EUR account: if you have an HK subsidiary, HK banks can offer SEPA-compatible IBANs
• SWIFT wire transfer: accepted but slower (3–5 days) and pricier; fallback only

Vaytax sets up the SEPA mandate as part of onboarding, you provide the EUR IBAN from whichever provider you use, we configure the tax office authorization.

Monthly filing for Chinese sellers

1. You: Enter German-sourced sales totals into the Vaytax dashboard (English UI, ~5 minutes/month).
2. We: Review the figures, generate the USt-Voranmeldung (monthly VAT return), file with the Finanzamt.
3. Finanzamt: SEPA-debits your EUR account (Wise, Payoneer, etc.).
4. You: Filing confirmation in dashboard + email.

First two years: monthly filing mandatory. After two years, quarterly possible if DE VAT under €7,500/year.

Already selling without a German VAT number?

If you crossed the German storage or sales threshold months ago and only just realised the obligation: we file the missing USt-Voranmeldungen retroactively at the same €79 per filing, charged once at signup. Pick the first period you need us to file when you register; we catch you up and continue going forward in one onboarding. The Finanzamt may still issue Verspätungszuschlag (late-filing surcharges) directly to your company for retroactive periods; those are independent of our fees, and we file as quickly as possible to keep them small.

Documents you'll need (and what counts in your country)

For a mainland Chinese company, the core registration set is:

• Your commercial register extract (business licence) and articles of association, both apostilled. Since China joined the Apostille Convention on 7 November 2023, a simple apostille replaces the old consular legalisation, which makes this much faster.
• Plus a passport copy of the legal representative and a signed power of attorney (template provided during signup).
• If you import goods into the EU yourself (rather than only selling stock Amazon already holds in Germany), you will also need an EU EORI number for customs. It is a short, free registration with German Zoll that you file directly; we point you to the exact form during onboarding.

Hong Kong companies

Hong Kong has no German-style commercial register extract. Your Certificate of Incorporation and Business Registration Certificate together serve that purpose, alongside your Articles of Association (apostilled), a passport copy of the legal representative, and a signed power of attorney. We confirm the exact set with you during onboarding.

For the full document checklist by country (and what an apostille is and when you need one), see our documents for German VAT registration, by country guide.