Italian brand scaling into Amazon.de or shipping to German consumers? If German inventory is involved or you cross the €10k EU-wide B2C threshold, you need a German VAT registration. We handle it, licensed tax advisor, flat fee, in English.
The short version
Italian companies need a German VAT registration when they: store inventory in Germany (Amazon FBA DE, Pan-EU FBA, any German 3PL), exceed the €10,000 EU-wide B2C threshold without OSS, or make specific German-located service supplies.
As an EU country, Italy has full access to OSS for cross-border B2C. But OSS does not cover sales from German-stored inventory, so many Italian Amazon Pan-EU FBA sellers need both.
Italian companies are handled by Finanzamt München. Timeline: 4–8 weeks. No fiscal representative required (notable contrast to Italy, where non-EU sellers do need one for Italian VAT). Year-one cost via Vaytax: €1,299/year all-in, German VAT registration included.
Not sure if this applies to your business? Take the 60-second VAT check →
The three most common profiles. If one of these sounds like you, registration is almost certainly mandatory.
Italian sellers enrolled in Pan-EU accept that Amazon routes inventory into Germany, Poland, France, Spain, and Czech Republic for faster delivery. The moment your stock lands in a German FBA warehouse, you have a taxable presence.
Consolidated EU fulfilment providers with German locations offer faster DE delivery. Using one triggers German VAT registration, because the inventory now sits in Germany regardless of where the company is based.
Italian DTC brands on Shopify, WooCommerce, or custom platforms selling to Germany, Austria, France, and Spain combined will almost always exceed €10,000 cross-border B2C per year. Past that, OSS or local registration is mandatory.
Italian e-commerce and wholesale brands, particularly in food, fashion, home goods, beauty, and furniture, have a natural expansion path into Germany, the largest consumer market in the EU. Three main triggers:
This trips up Italian sellers expecting reciprocity: Italy requires non-EU companies to appoint a fiscal representative (rappresentante fiscale) to register for Italian VAT. Germany does not, neither for EU nor for non-EU companies. A licensed tax advisor is sufficient.
If a provider quotes you a separate "fiscal representation" line item for German VAT, treat it as a red flag. It's often €1,000–€3,000/year for a service Germany does not require. See our fiscal representation guide.
| Italian seller setup | OSS? | Local DE registration? |
|---|---|---|
| Ship from IT only, direct B2C to DE | Yes (if >€10k EU-wide) | No |
| Amazon FBA IT only | Yes | No |
| Amazon Pan-EU FBA (inventory in DE) | For IT-sourced sales | Yes (for DE-sourced sales) |
| Italian 3PL with German warehouse | Where applicable | Yes (for DE-sourced sales) |
| B2B sales to German businesses | No | Usually not required |
Italian OSS: registered through Agenzia delle Entrate, filed quarterly by your Italian commercialista. Covers B2C to all other EU countries from Italian inventory. Does not cover sales dispatched from foreign-stored inventory (including DE FBA).
All Italian companies registering for German VAT are routed to Finanzamt München, regardless of whether your company is based in Milan, Rome, Naples, Turin, or elsewhere in Italy. The Munich office has handled Italian-Germany trade for decades and has established workflows for EU-Italy applications.
Documents Finanzamt München requires:
As EU member state documents, Italian corporate records are accepted without Apostille or sworn translation, significantly faster than US or Chinese registrations.
Once registered, the monthly rhythm is simple:
Filing frequency follows your VAT figures, not how new the registration is. For businesses starting activity between 2021 and 2026, a temporary rule (§ 18 Abs. 2 Satz 6 UStG) sets the first year from the VAT you expect to owe that year: over €9,000 files monthly, otherwise quarterly, and at €2,000 or less the Finanzamt can waive preliminary returns entirely. Later years use the same thresholds on the prior year's actual VAT. That temporary rule is scheduled to lapse after 2026, so unless it is extended, businesses starting from 2027 go back to mandatory monthly filing for their first two calendar years. Most foreign sellers holding German stock clear €9,000 and file monthly either way.
If you crossed the German storage or sales threshold months ago and only just realised the obligation: we file the missing UStVAs retroactively at the same €89 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.
Already selling on amazon.de? See your German VAT from your own report: drop your Amazon VAT Transactions Report (or easybill export) and we read it on your device, nothing uploaded, to show the figure reconciled to your file. It is a draft, subject to our review.
No per-sale surcharge. No fiscal-rep fee. The price you see covers your routine recurring filings, and pairs cleanly with your Italian commercialista's OSS work. One-off work like backfiling or disputes is always quoted up front.
New to German VAT · Path A
German VAT registration included. Charged in full at signup. Renews yearly.
What's included
Already registered · Path B
Already hold a German VAT number? Skip the registration fee and move straight into monthly filing. €990/year if you pay annually (about €82/month, roughly 7% off).
Or €990 billed yearly. No registration fee.
Free instant English read, no signup. Then a fixed price from €200 net, nothing to pay until you accept. Estimated assessment (Schätzbescheid), payment reminder (Mahnung), formal hearing notice (Anhörung).
Not sure what you need?
Answer a few quick questions about how and where you sell. We will tell you whether Germany requires you to register, whether OSS covers you, and what it costs, in plain English. No account, no obligation.
German VAT registration, monthly filing, and the annual return, handled end to end by a licensed German tax advisor. Built for Italian sellers expanding into Germany. Reviewed June 2026 by a licensed German tax advisor.
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