VAT Reverse Charge: How to Invoice EU Customers from Your German SaaS

When your German SaaS startup sells to a business in another EU country, you do not charge German VAT. Under § 3a(2) UStG, B2B services are taxable where the customer is located, not where you are. The customer handles VAT in their own country via reverse charge.

Your invoice must include: the net amount without any VAT line, the customer's EU VAT ID (USt-IdNr.), and the statement "Steuerschuldnerschaft des Leistungsempfängers" (or "Reverse charge" in English invoices). Missing any of these makes the invoice non-compliant.

Verify the VAT ID before invoicing. Use the BZSt confirmation procedure (qualifizierte Bestätigung) at evatr.bav.bund.de. If the customer cannot provide a valid EU VAT ID, you cannot apply reverse charge. You must then charge German 19% VAT.

File the Zusammenfassende Meldung. Every quarter (monthly if your EU sales exceed EUR 50,000), report all reverse charge sales to the BZSt. This is separate from your regular VAT return and easy to forget.

The B2C trap: Reverse charge only works for B2B. If you sell to individual consumers in the EU, you must register for the One-Stop-Shop (OSS) and charge VAT at the customer's country rate. Many SaaS founders assume all EU sales follow the same rule. They do not.