Invoicing in Germany: what the law requires

The mandatory fields (§14 UStG)

A standard B2B invoice over €250 must state:

1. Full name and address of you and your customer
2. Your tax number (Steuernummer) or VAT ID (USt-IdNr.)
3. The invoice date
4. A sequential, unique invoice number
5. Quantity and commercial description of the goods, or the scope of the service
6. The date of delivery or service, if it differs from the invoice date
7. The net amount, broken down by tax rate, plus any agreed reductions
8. The tax rate and the tax amount in euros — or a reference to why the invoice is tax-free
9. In special cases an extra notice — e.g. „Steuerschuldnerschaft des Leistungsempfängers” for reverse charge

Missing fields are not cosmetic: your customer loses the input-VAT deduction until the invoice is corrected — so it comes back to you, and your payment waits.

The consecutive number in that list has rules of its own — how to number invoices sets out the series and the gaps. To start from a document that already carries every field above, use one of our invoice templates.

Small-amount invoices up to €250

For invoices up to €250 gross (Kleinbetragsrechnung, §33 UStDV) the list shrinks: your name and address, the invoice date, quantity and description, the gross amount, and the tax rate — or the exemption note. No customer address, no invoice number, no tax breakdown required. More on small-business invoicing.

No VAT: the small-business rule (§19 UStG)

Since the 2025 reform you remain a Kleinunternehmer while last year's turnover was at most €25,000 and this year's stays under €100,000. You charge no VAT and show none — but the invoice must say why. A common wording:

„Steuerbefreiung nach §19 UStG” — VAT-exempt under the German small-business rule.

E-invoicing is being phased in

Since January 2025 every German business — Kleinunternehmer included — must be able to receive e-invoices (structured XML: XRechnung or ZUGFeRD; a plain PDF does not count). Issuing them becomes mandatory in stages:

• Until the end of 2026: paper and PDF stay allowed for B2B, with the recipient's consent
• From 2027: businesses with over €800,000 prior-year turnover must issue e-invoices
• From 2028: all domestic B2B invoices must be e-invoices
• Permanently exempt from issuing: Kleinunternehmer (§34a UStDV), invoices up to €250, and B2C

Spoonbill already issues them, on the free plan too: e-invoicing in Germany.

Still producing invoices in a spreadsheet? The mechanics and the traps are in the guide to making an invoice in Excel.

Austria sits on the other side of that line: no domestic B2B mandate is legislated there, and invoice requirements in Austria are set out on their own page, as are invoice requirements in Switzerland, which follow neither system.

Invoicing a German client from outside Germany

The e-invoice duty above is a domestic rule. It applies only when you and your client are both established in Germany (Federal Ministry of Finance, e-invoicing FAQ). If your business is based in the Netherlands, Spain or anywhere else outside Germany, you do not have to send a German business client an XRechnung or ZUGFeRD invoice — not in 2027, and not in 2028.

• Established means a registered office, management or a fixed establishment in Germany that takes part in the sale
• A German VAT number on its own does not make you established. The BMF suggests saying so on the invoice, so your client knows why no e-invoice arrives
• If you do have a fixed establishment in Germany that makes the sale, the phase-in above applies to you like any German business

With or without VAT? That depends on who your German client is, not on the e-invoice rule above. These rules come from the EU VAT Directive, so they are the same wherever in the EU your business is.

• A business client with a valid German VAT ID (USt-IdNr.), for a service: no VAT. Your client owes the German VAT itself (EU VAT Directive art. 196), and your invoice says so with the words “Reverse charge” (art. 226)
• Goods you ship to that business client: no VAT either. It is an exempt intra-Community supply (art. 138); the invoice names the exemption, and you keep proof the goods arrived in Germany
• Both VAT IDs go on the invoice, yours and your client's (art. 226). A German tax number (Steuernummer) is not enough
• You list each of these sales in your own country's recapitulative statement (EC Sales List), with the client's VAT ID and the amount
• A private client in Germany: you charge your own country's VAT, as at home. For goods you ship, that holds until your sales to private clients in other EU countries pass €10,000 a year in total. Above it you charge German VAT and declare it through the One Stop Shop (OSS)
• Check the VAT ID before you invoice without VAT. VIES, the European Commission's online check, confirms a German USt-IdNr. for free

A QR code for the transfer

Many German banking apps read the European Payments Council's QR code for transfers. Scanned, the transfer is filled in: IBAN, payee, amount and invoice number. It is not required, and the IBAN and amount still belong on the invoice in plain text. Invoice with QR code.

Deadlines, retention, currency, language

• B2B invoices must be issued within six months of the delivery or service
• Keep every invoice for 8 years — reduced from 10 in 2025; books and financial statements stay at 10
• Any currency is allowed, but the tax amount must also be stated in euros
• Invoices may be written in English — the tax office can request a translation

Questions on German invoicing rules