Permanent establishment in Germany: does warehouse stock create one?
Normally no. A facility used solely for storage, display or delivery counts as auxiliary activity under the double tax treaties (Doppelbesteuerungsabkommen, DBA), so a pure Amazon FBA or third-party logistics warehouse regularly does not create a permanent establishment (Betriebsstätte). The German VAT registration still follows the stock. Your own setup needs individual review.
Two questions, not one.
The VAT question: storing and dispatching goods in Germany triggers a German VAT registration, from the first unit, with no turnover threshold. The income tax question: that same stock normally does not create a permanent establishment (Betriebsstätte), because a facility used solely for storage, display or delivery is treated as auxiliary or preparatory activity under the double tax treaties (Doppelbesteuerungsabkommen, DBA). The two run on different tests, and only the VAT one follows the stock. A specific setup still needs individual review.
Reviewed July 2026 by a licensed German tax advisor. General legal position only, not an assessment of any specific company.
Does storing stock in a German warehouse create a permanent establishment?
Normally not. Two layers of law decide it, and for a plain warehouse they point the same way. The first layer is domestic. Section 12 of the German Fiscal Code (Abgabenordnung, AO) defines a permanent establishment (Betriebsstätte) as a fixed place of business or facility serving the activity of an enterprise, and it names a warehouse (Warenlager) among its examples. That list is why the question keeps coming up. The general test still has to be met on top of the example: the facility has to be available to the business on more than a temporary basis, and the business has to hold actual control over it, a control (Sachherrschaft, Verfügungsmacht) that cannot simply be withdrawn from the outside. The second layer is the double tax treaty (Doppelbesteuerungsabkommen, DBA), which is narrower still and in practice takes precedence. A seller who only holds goods in somebody else's fulfilment centre normally fails the first layer and is expressly carved out by the second.
The VAT registration obligation follows from storing and dispatching goods in Germany. Income tax normally does not follow, because a pure FBA or third-party logistics warehouse, without control over the premises and without your own staff, regularly does not create a permanent establishment.
Reviewed July 2026 by a licensed German tax advisorWhy does § 12 AO mention a warehouse (Warenlager)?
Because the domestic definition works through a general test plus a list of examples, and the list is not a verdict. § 12 AO opens with the test itself, a fixed place of business or facility serving the activity of an enterprise, and then names the cases that typically satisfy it: the place of management, branches, offices, factories and workshops, a warehouse (Warenlager), purchasing and sales outlets, and so on. Seeing Warenlager on that list is what makes a foreign seller assume the worst. The list does not switch the general test off. A warehouse is a permanent establishment where the general test is actually met, which means the facility has to be at the disposal of the business on more than a temporary basis and the business has to hold real control over it. That control (Sachherrschaft, Verfügungsmacht) is the element a logistics contract usually does not deliver, and without it the example on the list does not carry the case.
„Betriebsstätte ist jede feste Geschäftseinrichtung oder Anlage, die der Tätigkeit eines Unternehmens dient. Als Betriebsstätten sind insbesondere anzusehen: 1. die Stätte der Geschäftsleitung, 2. Zweigniederlassungen, 3. Geschäftsstellen, 4. Fabrikations- oder Werkstätten, 5. Warenlager, 6. Ein- oder Verkaufsstellen …“
§ 12 AO, Betriebsstätte (opening sentence and part of the list of examples)
- The general test: a fixed place of business or facility serving the activity of an enterprise.
- More than temporary: the facility has to be available to the business on more than a temporary basis.
- Control: actual control over the facility (Sachherrschaft, Verfügungsmacht) that cannot simply be withdrawn.
- The examples: a warehouse (Warenlager) is listed, but only qualifies where the general test above is met.
What do the double tax treaties say about storage and delivery?
The treaty layer is narrower than domestic law, and in practice it is the one that decides. German double tax treaties (Doppelbesteuerungsabkommen, DBA) follow Article 5 of the OECD Model Convention, which sets out the permanent establishment definition and then lists activities that expressly do not create one. Facilities used solely for the storage, display or delivery of goods belonging to the enterprise sit on that carve-out, treated as auxiliary or preparatory activity under Article 5(3) and Article 5(4). Where a treaty applies between Germany and the state your business is resident in, that narrower test is the one that governs, so a facility that might arguably clear the domestic hurdle can still fall outside the treaty definition. The word carrying the weight is solely. The carve-out covers a facility used for storage, display or delivery and nothing beyond that: functions on top of those are a different question, and the answer to that question depends on the facts of the individual case.
Why do Amazon FBA and 3PL warehouses fall outside the definition?
Because of what the seller has there, and what the seller does there. In an ordinary Amazon FBA or third-party logistics (3PL) arrangement the seller has no control over the premises: the operator decides which building the goods sit in, can move them between sites, and can end the arrangement. The seller has no staff of its own on site and no direct physical access to the goods. What exists is a contractual logistics relationship, not a place of business that the seller disposes of, so the control element the domestic test asks for is missing. On top of that, the function performed in the building is limited to storage and dispatch, which is exactly the activity the treaty carve-out names as auxiliary or preparatory. Both layers therefore point the same way. That is a description of the ordinary setup rather than a finding about your contracts: what your own agreement actually gives you is a matter for individual review.
When does a German setup actually change the answer?
When the functions performed in Germany go beyond pure storage, and when the business holds control over the premises. Those two elements together are what move the analysis. A sales presence in Germany is the classic example, and so are people acting for the business who have authority to negotiate and conclude contracts. Combine either of those with premises the business genuinely disposes of, or with staff of its own on site, and the conclusion can be different from the one at the top of this page. None of that is a bright line you can read off a website, and the table below shows only which direction each fact pushes. It is not an answer for any particular company, and it is not meant to be used as one. Where your German footprint is anything other than plain storage in somebody else's warehouse, have the setup reviewed individually before you rely on a conclusion.
| What you do in Germany | Permanent establishment? | What follows |
|---|---|---|
| Store stock in an Amazon FBA or 3PL warehouse only No premises of your own, no staff on site |
Normally not | The stock still triggers a German VAT registration from the first unit, then monthly VAT returns (UStVA) and the annual return (Jahreserklärung). German income tax normally does not follow. |
| Store stock and also have your own staff on site, or premises you control | Can differ, needs review | Control over the premises (Verfügungsmacht) together with your own people is exactly what the domestic test asks about. The answer turns on the facts and needs individual review. |
| A sales presence, or people with authority to negotiate and conclude contracts | Can differ, needs review | Functions beyond storage, display and delivery are outside the treaty carve-out. This is an income tax question for a tax advisor who has seen your structure, and it is outside what we do. |
The middle and bottom rows are not a verdict in the other direction. They mark the point where a general rule stops being useful and an individual review starts.
Does any of this change the German VAT registration?
No, and separating the two is the useful part. The VAT obligation follows the goods: stock stored and dispatched in Germany means a German VAT registration from the first unit, with no turnover threshold, and then monthly VAT returns (UStVA) plus the annual return (Jahreserklärung). The income tax question follows the establishment, and a pure FBA or 3PL warehouse regularly does not create one. One obligation attaches to where your goods are, the other to whether you have a fixed place of business in the country, and only the first is triggered by the stock itself. That is also why a foreign company can hold a German VAT number without having any German permanent establishment behind it. Our blog piece on stock in a German warehouse covers the VAT side in detail, and the page for Amazon FBA sellers walks through the same setup end to end.
That first obligation is the one we run. If you already have a German tax number (Steuernummer), the filing plan is €89 per month or €990 per year and covers your monthly and annual returns. If you still need the registration itself, the all-in plan is €1,299 per year, charged in full at signup, covering the German VAT registration plus every filing for the year. Both are on our pricing page. You still do your part each period: you enter your figures or upload your report, and we prepare the return, review it and file it with the tax office (Finanzamt).
What we do not do: German corporate income tax returns, and international tax structuring. This page states the general legal position on permanent establishments and nothing more. It is not an assessment of your company, and it cannot be, because that assessment depends on your contracts, your people and what actually happens in Germany. If your German footprint goes past stock in somebody else's warehouse, have your setup reviewed individually by a tax advisor before you rely on any conclusion, including this one.
If a German letter has already arrived
Stock that sat in Germany before anyone registered usually surfaces as a letter rather than a question. If you are holding a German letter you cannot read, our Finanzamt letter reader tells you what it says and what the deadline is, free, before you decide anything.
The VAT side of German stock, handled.
Vaytax runs German VAT for foreign companies: the registration where you need one, the monthly and annual returns, and the Finanzamt correspondence that goes with them. €1,299 per year all-in including the German registration, or €89 per month if you already have a Steuernummer. Corporate income tax and tax structuring are not part of the service.
Start the registration Licensed German tax advisor · English throughout · No calls requiredAsked about permanent establishments
Normally no. A facility used solely for storage, display or delivery is treated as auxiliary or preparatory activity under the double tax treaties (Doppelbesteuerungsabkommen), and in an Amazon FBA or third-party logistics warehouse the seller has no control over the premises, no staff of its own on site and no direct physical access to the goods. The German VAT registration obligation still follows the stock. A specific setup needs individual review.
Normally not on the strength of the stock alone. German taxation of business profits turns on whether there is a permanent establishment (Betriebsstätte), and a pure FBA or third-party logistics warehouse regularly does not create one. What the stock does create is a German VAT obligation. Whether your own structure changes that answer is a question for individual review, and corporate income tax returns are outside what Vaytax does.
§ 12 of the German Fiscal Code (Abgabenordnung, AO) lists a warehouse (Warenlager) as an example of a fixed place of business, but the general test still has to be met: the facility must be available to the business on more than a temporary basis, and the business must have actual control over it (Sachherrschaft, Verfügungsmacht) that cannot simply be withdrawn. A logistics provider's warehouse normally gives a seller neither.
No. The two questions run on different tests. A German VAT registration follows from storing and dispatching goods in Germany, and it says nothing about whether your business has a permanent establishment for income tax purposes. Foreign companies routinely hold a German VAT registration without any German permanent establishment.
Where the functions performed in Germany go beyond pure storage, for example a sales presence, or people with authority to negotiate and conclude contracts, combined with control over the premises. Those facts can lead to a different conclusion. Where any of them apply, the setup needs individual review by a tax advisor rather than a general rule read off a web page.
No. We do German VAT: the registration where you need one, the monthly VAT returns (UStVA), the annual return (Jahreserklärung) and the Finanzamt correspondence that goes with them. Corporate income tax returns and international tax structuring are not part of the service, and this page is general information rather than an assessment of any specific company.
Sources & official references
- § 12 AO: Betriebsstätte
- Abgabenordnung (AO), full text
- BMF: double tax treaties (Doppelbesteuerungsabkommen), state by state
General information on German tax law, current as of July 2026. Reviewed July 2026 by a licensed German tax advisor. Not individual tax advice and not an assessment of any specific structure: a specific setup needs individual review. Vaytax handles German VAT, not corporate income tax.