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§ 18 Value Added Tax Act (UStG)

As a company, you usually have to submit advance sales tax returns to the tax office on a monthly or quarterly basis.

Sales tax is also commonly called value added tax. In particular, it is subject to
• Deliveries and other services,
• the import of goods from non-EU countries – the resulting import VAT is levied by customs – and
• the purchase of goods from the countries of the European Union, the so-called intra-community acquisition.

The amount of tax varies depending on the type of goods supplied
or other services performed:
• general tax rate: 19 percent
• reduced tax rate: 7 percent , applies for example to

• the delivery of almost all foodstuffs, except drinks and
• Restaurant sales (please also note the exceptions below),
• for local public transport,
• the transport of passengers by rail and
• for sales of books and newspapers.

• Zero tax rate: A tax rate of 0 percent applies to the supply of certain photovoltaic systems and certain other components of a photovoltaic system.

Due to the Corona pandemic , the following exceptions applied or apply:
• Temporary reduction of tax rates from 19 to 16 percent and from 7 to 5 percent from 1 July 2020 to 31 December 2020
• for restaurant and catering services – with the exception of
Drinks – was or is
• from 1 July 2020 to 31 December 2020 the tax rate of 5 percent and
• from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2023 the tax rate is 7 percent.

You must pay/remit VAT for your business to the tax office. However, you can regularly reclaim the input tax, i.e., the VAT on incoming invoices. You calculate the difference in your advance VAT return.

Pre-registration period
If the VAT for the previous calendar year was more than EUR 9,000, you must submit monthly VAT returns for the current year. If the previous year's total tax was between EUR 2,000 and EUR 9,000, you must submit the return quarterly .

If it did not exceed EUR 2,000, the tax office may exempt you from submitting advance VAT returns. In this case, only one annual VAT return is required. to transmit.
If you had a surplus of more than EUR 9,000 for the previous calendar year, you can choose the calendar month as the advance tax return period instead of the calendar quarter. This choice applies to the entire calendar year. This option must be exercised by February 10 of the current year. If you are starting a business for the first time, the expected tax for the current calendar year applies to the above-mentioned amount limits. In the following year, the actual tax of the previous year must be converted into an annual tax.

You are not obliged to submit a monthly VAT return if
• You only carry out VAT-free transactions that exclude input tax deduction,
• You use the small business regulation and do not have a VAT identification number or
• You make use of the special arrangement for flat-rate farmers and foresters.

• Sales tax pre-registration
• upon request, you must send invoices, contracts or similar documents to the tax office

You are self-employed in a commercial or professional activity. This is the case if you want to generate income with it in the long term .

For example, your company belongs to one of the following groups:
• Natural persons, i.e. individuals, for example:

• retailers
• craftsmen and women

• legal persons, for example:

• public company
• Limited Liability Company (GmbH)
• cooperative
• registered association or foundation

• Associations of persons, for example:

• Society under civil law (GbR)
• General partnership (OHG)
• Limited partnership (KG).

There are no direct costs for the transmission of the advance sales tax return.

You submit the sales tax pre-registration electronically via the officially designated interface, for example
• with the free online product of the financial administration "My ELSTER - your online tax office" or
• with a commercial control program.

If you use "My ELSTER" , proceed as follows:
• Visit, for example, "My ELSTER - your online tax office" on the Internet.
• Log in with your access data and your personal
security procedures.
• Select the menu item “Sales tax pre-registration”.
• Select the relevant calendar year.
• In the next step, select the transfer of previous data or continue without data transfer.
• Enter your data on the following pages. "My ELSTER" guides you through the entire process.
• At the end of the process, "My ELSTER" checks your details and
calculates the due sales tax prepayment or one
any excess.
• Send the electronic sales tax pre-registration.

You must transfer any advance payment that is due to the responsible tax office in good time, or you can give the tax office a SEPA direct debit mandate. You will automatically be reimbursed for any excess.

Alternatively, you can transfer the sales tax return directly from a commercial tax program to ELSTER via the electronic interface.

No
However, any excess will only be reimbursed after approval by the tax office.

You must submit the sales tax advance returns no later than the 10th day after the end of the advance return period (month/quarter) .

Upon request, the tax office can extend the deadline for the transmission of the preliminary declarations and for the payment of the advance payments by one month (permanent deadline extension) .

If you submit the sales tax return on a monthly basis, the granting of a permanent extension of the deadline depends on you making a special advance payment . This amounts to one eleventh of the sum of the advance payments for the previous calendar year.

If the advance payment or the assessed sales tax is not paid, not paid in full or not on time, there is an administrative offense within the meaning of § 26a UStG, which can be punished with a fine of up to €30,000.

• Objection
• Legal action

Businesses usually have to submit advance VAT returns on a monthly or quarterly basis:

• monthly if sales tax was more than EUR 7,500 in the previous calendar year
• quarterly if the sales tax payment in the previous calendar year was more than EUR 1,000 but not more than EUR 7,500
• if the amount is not more than EUR 1,000, an annual electronic VAT return is sufficient

Pre-registration must always be done online.
Responsible: local tax office

Tax offices