Hong Kong company, first Amazon.de launch. What does the German setup look like?
You run a HK Limited, your products are made in the mainland or in Hong Kong, and the German marketplace is the next step. Here is the compliance path before the first container ships.
Yes. Register before the stock arrives; Amazon will not let you sell without it.
Storing inventory in Germany creates a VAT obligation from the first unit, and amazon.de enforces it before you sell: under § 25e UStG the platform is liable for your unpaid German VAT, so it requires a valid German USt-IdNr in Seller Central. Hong Kong companies are handled by Finanzamt Berlin International.
Plan for the paperwork lead time. The HK document set (Business Registration Certificate, Certificate of Incorporation, director passport, hand-signed power of attorney) plus 4 to 8 weeks of Finanzamt processing means the registration should start before you book the freight, not after the goods are on the water.
Non-EU seller, EU stock: the standard trigger
Germany does not care where the company is incorporated once goods sit in a German warehouse: place-of-supply rules make those sales German, with no minimum turnover. For a HK Limited that means a full registration (Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung) with Berlin International, a Steuernummer for filings and a USt-IdNr for the marketplace and intra-EU movements.
On the sales themselves, the deemed-supplier rule works in your favour: Amazon remits the 19% or 7% on B2C marketplace orders. Your own filings cover the exempt deemed supplies, stock movements between EU warehouses, any B2B invoices, and the input VAT you reclaim on imports and fees.
The HK set the Finanzamt actually accepts
The recurring blocker for Hong Kong applicants is documentation: the Finanzamt wants the Business Registration Certificate and Certificate of Incorporation with a certified translation where required, plus clear proof of who is authorised to sign. Getting the set right on the first pass is the difference between 4 weeks and 3 months.
Since 2023 mainland-Chinese documents benefit from the Apostille Convention; Hong Kong documents have used apostilles for decades, so legalisation is straightforward once you know which documents need it. Our country checklist walks through the exact set.
Launch sequence for a HK seller
- Start the German registration now. It is the longest lead-time item in your launch plan: 4 to 8 weeks at Berlin International once the documents are complete.
- Prepare the EORI at the same time. Your goods will clear EU customs, so an EU EORI is needed. We file the application as a €149 one-off add-on.
- Ship after the numbers exist, or price in back-filing. Selling before the Steuernummer arrives is possible in some setups, but stock arriving before registration means retroactive returns at €79 per catch-up month.
- Hand the filings over. €1,199 per year all-in: German VAT registration, all monthly filings and the annual return, billed yearly starting at signup. English onboarding, no calls needed, Finanzamt post handled.
Launching from Hong Kong? Start the clock today.
The Finanzamt wait is the one part of your launch you cannot compress. Registration started this week means selling cleanly next quarter.
Start the registration Licensed German tax advisor · English throughout · No calls requiredAsked about this setup
Yes, the Union OSS is open to non-EU companies once they have German stock and a German VAT registration: Germany becomes the member state of identification, and one quarterly OSS return then covers B2C sales from German stock to other EU countries. The claim sometimes heard that Chinese or HK companies cannot get OSS in Germany is wrong.
Finanzamt Berlin International. It covers Hong Kong alongside a range of other non-EU jurisdictions under the UStZustV routing regulation.
No. The company registers as a foreign business at its Hong Kong address. What you need in Germany is a tax advisor authorised to receive Finanzamt post on your behalf, which is part of our service.
Not for the storage question: once your goods sit in a German or EU warehouse in your name, the registration duty is yours. The origin of the goods affects customs duty and the import paperwork, not the VAT registration.
Sources & official references