TikTok Shop in Germany.
Why you still need a German VAT ID.

TikTok Shop Germany: the short answers

How long until we have the VAT ID TikTok asks for?

The tax number usually takes 4 to 8 weeks after the registration reaches the tax office; individual offices can take considerably longer. The German VAT ID is often issued together with it; if it comes separately, usually a few weeks later, sometimes longer.

What does it cost?

German VAT: €1,299 a year all-in with the registration included, or €99 a month (€1,099 a year) if you already hold a German VAT number. Past returns are €99 each. Never a percentage of your sales.

TikTok already pays the VAT on my sales. What do you still file?

Your German VAT return for every period, monthly or quarterly as the tax office decides, plus the annual return. The sales TikTok remitted for you are reported separately from your direct sales, so your figures match what TikTok reports.

Who does the work: our licensed German tax advisory firm, in-house, filing with the tax office through its own ELSTER connection.

Fulfilled by TikTok (FBT) in Germany

We’re a Hong Kong company launching TikTok Shop Germany with Fulfilled by TikTok. Who can register us for German VAT?

If your FBT stock is stored in a warehouse in Germany, your company needs a German VAT registration from the first unit, with no sales threshold for a company from outside the EU, and a Hong Kong company registers with Finanzamt Berlin International. A licensed German tax advisor can do it for you without a fiscal representative or a German address: we prepare and submit your registration, usually within a few working days once your documents are complete (with priority registration, within one working day), and the office itself usually takes 4 to 8 weeks, some take longer.

What the rest of this page says about German stock applies to FBT stock in Germany too. On your sales to consumers from that stock TikTok is the deemed supplier, yet you still file a German return for every period. TikTok’s own EU seller policy asks every company for a VAT number when it registers. Import VAT on your shipments into Germany can be deducted from your declared start of activity, even before the tax number arrives, as long as the import is declared for your company and you receive the import tax notice (Einfuhrabgabenbescheid) in its name for every shipment.

The Hong Kong document set (Certificate of Incorporation, Business Registration Certificate, Articles of Association, a director’s passport and a power of attorney signed by hand) is listed under German VAT for a Hong Kong company. Next step: write us what you sell and when your first shipment is due.

The §22f trap: why "TikTok handles my VAT" is only half the story

Under §3 Abs. 3a UStG, TikTok Shop can indeed become the deemed supplier for certain B2C transactions. It applies where goods are imported to EU consumers via the platform in a consignment not exceeding €150, whoever the seller is and wherever they are established (§ 3 Abs. 3a Satz 2 UStG), or where goods already located within the EU are sold by a seller not established in the EU (Satz 1). In these cases, TikTok is responsible for collecting and remitting the VAT.

However, German VAT law also contains the marketplace-liability rules under §§22f and 25e UStG. These provisions make marketplace operators potentially liable for unpaid VAT of sellers active on their platform.

The former "Bescheinigung über die steuerliche Erfassung" under §22f UStG (Form USt 1 TI) as proof of compliance only applied until 30 June 2021. Since 1 July 2021, marketplace operators must record the German VAT identification number (USt-IdNr) issued by the Bundeszentralamt für Steuern (BZSt) under §27a UStG. The VAT ID must be valid at the time of the transaction. This requirement applies regardless of whether the seller is established inside or outside the EU.

A practical clarification: German law itself does not explicitly require TikTok to deactivate seller accounts without a valid German VAT ID. The legal framework focuses on the marketplace operator's documentation obligations under §22f UStG and the liability protection under §25e UStG, which generally requires proper documentation and a valid VAT ID where applicable. Whether TikTok actually blocks, suspends, or restricts accounts without a valid VAT ID is a business and compliance decision of the platform.

In practice, this frequently results in a German VAT registration becoming necessary for foreign TikTok Shop sellers selling into Germany. Where the required VAT ID evidence cannot be provided, platforms may suspend, deactivate, or in severe cases permanently remove seller accounts as part of their internal compliance procedures. For that reason, most foreign sellers ultimately need a German VAT registration. Vaytax assists with the German VAT registration process and the ongoing filing obligations connected to it.

TikTok asks you to correct your seller details: you have 7 calendar days

TikTok Shop's own EU Seller Registration Policy says TikTok checks seller information from time to time, and a seller whose information looks incorrect or out of date "will have 7 calendar days to correct and/or complete their information" (TikTok Shop, EU Seller Registration Policy). This is a platform deadline, not a tax-office one, and weekends count. The same policy asks a company for a VAT number when it registers.

• A typing error or an outdated address: correct the detail TikTok names within the 7 days. That is the whole job.
• A German registration you do not hold yet: 7 days is not enough. A German registration typically takes 4 to 8 weeks for the tax number (Steuernummer), and the VAT ID comes often together with the tax number, otherwise usually a few weeks later. Start the registration and ask TikTok seller support in writing what it accepts in the meantime.
• A VAT ID that exists but is not accepted: check that the company name and address you gave TikTok match what the German tax office (Finanzamt) holds.

TikTok's policy does not publish a fixed consequence for a missed 7-day window, so we do not state one. A German registration duty comes from the law, not from TikTok: if your set-up requires one, it exists whether or not TikTok asks. Start your German VAT registration.

Who pays what: six scenarios

The same legal framework gives different answers depending on your establishment country and whether your inventory sits in Germany. This table is the short version.

Five things TikTok sellers regularly get wrong

Patterns we see often enough that they probably apply to you.

What changes on 8 January 2026

TikTok Shop is raising EU seller commission from 5% to 9% in Germany, Spain, France, Italy, and Ireland from 8 January 2026, with a reduced 7% rate for consumer electronics and a 4% promotional rate for new sellers during their first 60 days. This is a marketplace-fee change, not a VAT-rule change, but it materially affects your unit economics: a €100 standard-category sale now nets €91 before VAT and fulfilment fees.

It does not change your VAT position, but it does change how much margin you have to absorb the cost of getting compliance right. Errors that trigger penalties, estimated assessments, or account suspensions become more expensive when your per-unit margin is thinner.

What changes on 1 July 2027

From 1 July 2027, subject to final Council adoption, the deemed-supplier rule extends from B2C to B2B for non-EU sellers using EU marketplaces, part of the EU's VAT in the Digital Age package. Until then the rule is B2C-only: TikTok Shop is never the deemed supplier for B2B intra-EU sales, where reverse charge applies if the buyer has a valid VAT ID.

Filing: what it actually looks like

Once you are registered for German VAT, you file monthly or quarterly, as the tax office decides, and the rhythm is simple:

1. You: Enter your sales figures into the Vaytax dashboard each month (~5 minutes, totals per VAT rate, any B2B supplies, any deemed-supplier sales).
2. We: Separate your TikTok deemed-supplier sales from your direct sales, generate the UStVA, and file with the Finanzamt.
3. Finanzamt: Processes the filing, debits your SEPA account for any VAT owed.
4. You: Get filing confirmation in the dashboard and by email.

Deemed-supplier sales TikTok remitted on your behalf are reported separately from your direct sales, so your numbers match what TikTok reports. Inventory movements between warehouses are recorded, and any B2B sales, refunds, or input VAT on German expenses (advertising, fulfilment fees) flow through the same return. The Jahreserklärung (annual return) and ZM (intra-EU recap) also remain your responsibility, and we handle both.

Do you still file a return if TikTok paid the VAT?

Yes. A German VAT registration means a return is due for every period, whether or not you owe anything in it. A month in which TikTok paid the VAT on nearly every order still needs its return, and so does a month with no sales at all (a nil return). The same goes for the annual return.

Your returns go to the tax office assigned by your country of establishment, not by where your stock sits (look up yours). You do not need a fiscal representative: a licensed German tax advisor acting for you is enough.