Swiss company, German customers. When does German VAT start?
Switzerland sits outside the EU, so every shipment to Germany is an export-import event. Whether German VAT reaches you depends on how you ship and where your stock sits.
Ship DAP from Swiss stock: usually no. Ship DDP or hold German stock: yes.
From Swiss stock on DAP terms (customer is importer): your supply stays outside German VAT; the customer pays import VAT and, since July 2026, the €3 flat duty on sub-€150 parcels. Compliant, but the doorstep charges annoy German customers, which is why so many Swiss sellers move to DDP.
On DDP terms you become the importer, § 3 (8) UStG places your sale in Germany, and registration plus monthly filings follow. With stock in Germany (FBA or a 3PL) the case is unambiguous: registration from the first unit. Swiss companies have a dedicated office, Finanzamt Konstanz, and the German-language paperwork is usually the easy part for Swiss teams; the process itself is what we run.
Third country, ten kilometres away
For VAT purposes Switzerland is as much a third country as the US or China: no distance-selling regime, no OSS from Swiss stock, customs on every consignment. What Swiss sellers uniquely have is volume proximity: enough German customers that DAP's doorstep friction becomes a real conversion problem early, pushing the DDP question faster than for overseas sellers.
Once you ship DDP or store in Germany, the standard non-EU seller obligations apply: Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung at Konstanz, Steuernummer and USt-IdNr, monthly Umsatzsteuervoranmeldungen, annual return, and import-VAT recovery through the filings.
The structures Swiss sellers actually use
Small volumes: stay DAP, keep prices honest about doorstep charges. Growing volumes: register and switch to DDP, absorbing import charges into the price. Serious volumes: place stock in a German warehouse (often southern Germany, hours from home) and operate like a domestic seller with full input-VAT recovery. Each step is a deliberate registration decision, not an accident.
Amazon.de via FBA is its own case: stock in Germany from day one, registration before the first shipment, and the marketplace deemed-supplier rules covering the B2C sales while you file the rest.
For the Swiss seller moving to DDP or German stock
- Fix the importer-of-record question. Your carrier contract (Swiss Post, DPD, DHL) states it. DDP clauses mean the registration duty is already live.
- Register via Konstanz. Swiss companies route to Finanzamt Konstanz under the UStZustV. Standard documents, 4 to 8 weeks.
- Get the EU EORI. Needed for DDP imports; we file the application as a €149 one-off.
- File monthly. €1,199 per year all-in: German VAT registration, all monthly filings and the annual return, billed yearly starting at signup, or €79 per month (or €853 per year) once you already hold a German Steuernummer.
Konstanz paperwork, handled from your side of the border.
English or German onboarding, a licensed German tax advisor on record, and your DDP switch happens with the registration already in place.
Start the registration Licensed German tax advisor · English throughout · No calls requiredAsked about this setup
On genuine DAP terms with the customer as importer, yes, German VAT does not attach to your supply. Check that your checkout does not promise duty-free delivery while the carrier bills the customer; the mismatch creates chargebacks, not tax debt.
The UStZustV assigns each foreign country a single German tax office; Switzerland and Liechtenstein route to Konstanz. All correspondence, filings and payments go through it regardless of where in Germany your customers are.
No. Swiss MWST and German USt are separate systems. German obligations need a German registration; your Swiss registration continues untouched for Swiss sales.
Selling via FBA means German stock, which means registration first; there is no test-mode exemption. Some sellers start with export fulfilment from Switzerland (DAP) to gauge demand, then register when moving stock in. That sequencing is legitimate and we help plan it.
Sources & official references