All taxes for Amazon and eBay sellers in one place

As an Amazon or eBay seller in Germany you have up to six tax duties. They are the OSS return, the advance VAT return, the annual VAT return, the EÜR (income surplus statement), trade tax and income tax. Almost all of them work from the same sales data. The overview shows who files what, when, and where the numbers come from.

Is there tax software that also handles VAT and trade tax? Yes: VAT GPT, our own product, calculates the OSS return, VAT, the EÜR, trade tax and income tax in one place from your Amazon and eBay reports. You check and confirm the figures; with VAT GPT Pro you send the advance return, the OSS return, the EÜR, trade tax and income tax onward.

Last updated: 3 November 2026

In brief

Six duties: three about VAT (OSS, advance return, annual return), three about profit (EÜR, trade tax, income tax).
One data basis: your Amazon and eBay sales reports feed all of them.
Deadlines: the OSS return every quarter, the advance return monthly or quarterly, the rest once a year.

Which six taxes do I have to file?

Duty	Who	When	From what
OSS return	Anyone taking part in the OSS, usually because their distance sales to private customers in other EU countries exceed 10,000 euros a year	Quarterly; due at the end of the following month (April 30, July 31, October 31, January 31)	Amazon report (AVTR), eBay order list
Advance VAT return	Anyone selling with German VAT	Tenth day after the quarter; monthly if the previous year's tax was over 9,000 euros	Amazon report, eBay order list, expense receipts
Annual VAT return	Same as the advance return	Once a year, without an adviser seven months after year end, so July 31	All advance returns and reports of the year
EÜR	Anyone who determines profit as the surplus of income over expenses	With the income tax return	Sales, fees, payment report, receipts
Trade tax	Trade businesses	Once a year; for sole traders required if the trade income exceeds 24,500 euros, for a GmbH always	Profit from the EÜR
Income tax	Sole traders whose income exceeds the basic tax-free allowance (section 56 EStDV)	Once a year, after the end of the calendar year	Profit from the EÜR

For the advance return and the annual returns, if the last day falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, the deadline ends on the next working day (section 108 (3) AO). For the OSS return the BZSt names no such shift; file and pay by the stated end of the month. For more depth: OSS VAT return Germany: deadlines per quarter, steps, Amazon VAT Transactions Report (AVTR): advance VAT return, Annual VAT return in Germany: deadline, ELSTER, software, EÜR template: how to file the Anlage EÜR in ELSTER, Trade tax return in Germany: small business, form, deadline. If you also bring goods in from outside the EU, see IOSS explained for online sellers in Germany.

What this means for you: check the table for who files what and when, and remember that a deadline on a weekend moves to the next working day.

What does a tax year look like?

January to December: keep collecting reports and filing expense receipts.
Tenth day after each filing period: advance VAT return.
April 30, July 31, October 31, January 31: OSS return and payment.
After year end until July 31: annual VAT return, EÜR, trade tax and income tax.

If you sell next to a job, selling on Amazon or eBay alongside a job shows how the duties fit around it.

What this means for you: collect reports and receipts all year, because the deadlines fall in a steady rhythm.

What do the dates look like at the turn of 2026/2027?

An example for a seller with quarterly advance returns without a permanent deadline extension who takes part in the OSS; with the extension the advance return moves one month later (section 46 UStDV). The weekdays are calculated:

Duty	Legal day	Weekday	What you plan
Advance return, fourth quarter 2026	January 10, 2027	Sunday	The deadline ends on Monday, January 11, 2027 (section 108 (3) AO)
OSS return and payment, fourth quarter 2026	January 31, 2027	Sunday	The BZSt names no shift; plan for Friday, January 29, 2027
Annual VAT return 2026 without an adviser	July 31, 2027	Saturday	The deadline ends on Monday, August 2, 2027 (section 108 (3) AO)

The OSS return for the first quarter of 2027 follows on April 30, 2027 (a Friday).

What this means for you: plan the working days of each deadline around the turn of the year, not the legal day.

How does an order list spread the numbers over the duties?

Three rows from an eBay order list, with invented numbers: order A goes within Germany for €119.00 gross at 19 %, order B also within Germany for €59.50 gross at 19 %, order C goes from Germany to a private customer in France for €120.00 gross at 20 %. If your EU distance sales are above the 10,000-euro threshold (section 3c (4) UStG) or you have waived it, and you take part in the OSS, you report C there (€100.00 net, €20.00 tax), while A and B belong in the advance return with €150.00 net together. All three rows also flow into the income of the EÜR. That is how one file produces more than one return. The threshold applies only if your business is established only in Germany (§ 3c (4) UStG).

What this means for you: one order list feeds the advance return, the OSS return and your income figures at the same time.

When do I really pay trade tax?

For natural persons and partnerships, an allowance of 24,500 euros reduces the trade income (section 11 (1) GewStG), and the trade tax return has to be filed under section 25 GewStDV if the trade income exceeded 24,500 euros. Whether a return is needed therefore depends on the trade income, not on turnover; you also have to file one if the tax office asks for it or if a trade loss carried forward was determined at the end of the previous year (section 25 (1) no. 6 and 7 GewStDV). You work out the trade income from the profit with the additions and deductions set by law; it is not the same as the profit of the EÜR alone. The filing itself is described in trade tax return for Amazon and eBay sellers.

What this means for you: an allowance of €24,500 reduces your trade income, and the return is due once your trade income exceeds it.

What are the three ways to get it done?

Way	In favour	Against
Tax adviser	Knows special cases and advises you on them.	You still deliver the data; effort and costs arise.
Excel and portals	You keep everything in your hands and need no new software.	You calculate each duty again and send through separate portals, ELSTER and BZStOnline.
One tool for all duties	One data basis, less retyping.	You still check the results yourself.

The ways do not exclude each other: many seek advice on the annual accounts and handle the regular returns themselves.

What this means for you: you can combine the ways, for example by seeking advice on the annual accounts and handling the regular returns yourself.

How does the data from one upload flow into all six?

You upload the Amazon report and the eBay order list under "Income & OSS" (how it works). VAT GPT sorts each sales row by tax scheme and country. This produces:

the OSS figures by country and tax rate (OSS return for Amazon and eBay with VAT GPT),
the domestic sales for the advance return (VAT return from your Amazon and eBay reports),
the income for the EÜR; fees from the Amazon report appear under expenses.

The profit of the EÜR is in turn the basis for the default value of trade tax and the income tax estimate.

What this means for you: one upload gives you the figures for all six duties, and the EÜR profit feeds trade tax and income tax.

What stays with you?

You check all numbers and decide what you file. You apply for the OSS scheme with the BZSt, and you transfer the OSS tax yourself.

What this means for you: you check every number, apply for the OSS and transfer the OSS tax yourself.

How VAT GPT helps

VAT GPT is the tax software for online sellers, freelancers and small businesses in Germany. It calculates and files in one place, in this order:

your OSS return
VAT
EÜR
trade tax
income tax

Upload: You upload your Amazon and eBay reports.
Check: VAT GPT calculates OSS, the advance return and the figures for the EÜR, trade tax and income tax. You check and confirm.
Send: With VAT GPT Pro you send the advance return, the OSS return, the EÜR, trade tax and income tax onward.

There is Free, Go (30 days free with all Pro features) and Pro. Try for free now

Frequently asked questions

Do I need all six? That depends on your case. The OSS return concerns sales into other EU countries, trade tax trade businesses.

What if I am a small business? If you are established in Germany, your sales taxable in Germany are tax-exempt if the total turnover in the previous year did not exceed 25,000 euros and does not exceed 100,000 euros in the current year (section 19 (1) UStG), unless you have waived this (section 19 (3) UStG). The filing duties of section 18 (1) to (4) UStG then do not apply; the tax office may still ask you to file under section 149 (1) sentence 2 AO. Income tax and the EÜR are not governed by section 19 UStG.

Does this apply to eBay sellers too? Yes. The duties depend on your sales, not on the platform.

Where do I start? With the reports: Amazon reports at a glance: which one for taxes?.