Amazon KDP and VAT in Germany: what applies to your royalties?

Do you publish with Amazon KDP from Germany and does Amazon Media EU S.à r.l. pay your royalties from the European marketplaces? Then you charge no German VAT (§ 3a (2) sentence 1 UStG), but you are not done: under standard taxation you declare the turnover separately in the advance return and report it in the EC Sales List.

Only VAT GPT sends all three returns itself. Of the tools we compare, according to the providers' own pages (checked 3 November 2026), only VAT GPT submits the OSS return itself to the BZSt, plus the VAT advance return and the annual VAT return via ELSTER to the tax office, calculated from your Amazon and eBay reports. You do not have to go into Mein ELSTER or the BZStOnline portal yourself. With the others, you upload the OSS file in the BZStOnline portal yourself, or a tax adviser or the provider's service files it for you. Sending needs Pro. OSS software compared

Last updated: 29 October 2026

This article assumes that you supply Amazon with a service against royalties, namely granting publishing rights to your book. It covers payments from Amazon Media EU S.à r.l. for royalties earned on the European marketplaces, which is how the KDP help describes it. Payments from other Amazon companies are assessed separately. Whether this fits your case is for the tax office or your tax adviser to confirm.

In short

Advance return: Separate declaration in the line with code (Kennzahl) 21 (§ 18b sentence 1 no. 2 UStG).
EC Sales List: Due by day 25 after each quarter, with the recipient's VAT ID (§ 18a (2) UStG).
Small business owners: They do not file the EC Sales List (§ 18a (4) UStG).

Do I charge German VAT on KDP royalties?

No, if your service is not supplied in Germany under § 3a (2) UStG. That rule says that a service supplied to a business for its business is supplied at the place from which the recipient runs its business. For the European marketplaces, the KDP help names Amazon Media EU S.à r.l. as the company that issues the payments for royalties earned there. You therefore do not show German VAT.

The law itself describes these cases as services for which the recipient established in another member state owes the tax there (§ 18a (2) UStG). People often call this the reverse charge. The tax does not disappear; it is levied on the recipient, not on you.

What this means for you: Do not charge German VAT on royalties from Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.; the recipient owes the tax.

Where does it go in the advance VAT return?

The business must declare, separately for each advance-return period, the tax base of its taxable services within the meaning of § 3a (2) UStG supplied in another EU country, for which the recipient owes the tax there (§ 18b sentence 1 no. 2 UStG). In the advance return that is the line for non-taxable other services under § 18b sentence 1 no. 2 UStG, code 21. The details belong in the period in which the services were supplied (§ 18b sentence 3 UStG).

The advance-return period is the calendar quarter; if your tax in the previous year was more than €9,000, it is the calendar month (§ 18 (2) UStG). If it was no more than €2,000, the tax office can release you from advance returns (§ 18 (2) sentence 3 UStG). The return is due by the tenth day after the period ends (§ 18 (1) sentence 1 UStG), or one month later on application (§ 46 UStDV). How to file it in ELSTER: file your advance VAT return online.

What this means for you: Declare the tax base separately in the advance VAT return (code 21).

Do I have to file an EC Sales List?

A business that supplies such services in another EU country, for which the recipient owes the tax there, submits an EC Sales List to the Federal Central Tax Office by the 25th day after the end of each calendar quarter (§ 18a (2) sentence 1 UStG). For the fourth quarter that is 25 January. The list contains the recipient's VAT ID, the sum of the tax bases and a note that such a service was supplied (§ 18a (7) sentence 1 no. 3 UStG). So you need Amazon's number from your Amazon documents.

If you find an error, you correct the list within one month (§ 18a (10) UStG).

What this means for you: Submit the EC Sales List to the Federal Central Tax Office by the 25th day after each calendar quarter.

How does invoicing work on KDP: credit note or self-billing?

The recipient can also issue the invoice if you agreed that beforehand; it is then called a Gutschrift (self-billing, § 14 (2) UStG). For KDP, Amazon describes a self-billing agreement under which Amazon creates invoices in your name and ensures timely payment. According to the KDP help, this is a beta available only by invitation to selected authors. Tax invoices are generated only for authors resident in the EU who enter a registered EU VAT ID in their tax profile and accept the agreement. The invoices stay available for 10 years.

According to the KDP help, the VAT ID in your KDP tax profile is separate from any tax forms you may have submitted.

What this means for you: Under the self-billing agreement Amazon creates the invoices in your name; keep your VAT ID in the KDP tax profile correct.

What applies to small business owners on KDP?

If you apply § 19 UStG because your total turnover was no more than €25,000 in the previous year and is no more than €100,000 in the current year, the filing duties of § 18 (1) to (4) UStG do not apply, while § 18 (4a) UStG remains unaffected (§ 19 (1) sentence 2 UStG), and the EC Sales List under § 18a (1) to (3) UStG falls away (§ 18a (4) UStG). More: VAT return for a small business in Germany.

What this means for you: As a small business owner you skip most filing duties, but not all: check the exceptions above.

When does the 7 percent rate apply to royalties?

The tax is reduced to seven percent for granting, transferring and exercising rights arising from the copyright act (§ 12 (2) no. 7 c UStG). The rate only matters if the service is supplied in Germany, because VAT applies only to supplies a business makes within Germany (§ 1 (1) no. 1 UStG). For royalties from Amazon Media EU S.à r.l., the place of supply under § 3a (2) UStG is not Germany. It can differ with other contracts, for example if you grant rights to a business in Germany.

What this means for you: The 7 percent rate matters only if the service is supplied in Germany, which is not the case for royalties from Amazon Media EU.

Which mistakes happen often?

Showing German VAT on the royalties. For a service to Amazon Media EU S.à r.l., the place of supply is not Germany.
Forgetting code 21. The tax base belongs separately in the advance return (§ 18b UStG).
Forgetting the EC Sales List. Under standard taxation it is due every quarter (§ 18a (2) UStG).
Not knowing the recipient's VAT ID. Without it a mandatory detail is missing (§ 18a (7) UStG).
Mixing up the KDP tax profile and VAT. The EU VAT ID in the profile is separate from tax forms (KDP help).
Leaving a wrong list uncorrected. You must correct it within one month (§ 18a (10) UStG).

What this means for you: No German VAT on the royalties, the tax base in code 21, the EC Sales List on time and corrected within one month.

How VAT GPT helps

This is how you work with your figures in VAT GPT:

Upload: If you also sell goods yourself on Amazon or eBay, you upload their CSV reports; the Free plan calculates VAT for Germany and OSS from them.
Check: If VAT GPT classifies a sale as a service to a business in another EU country and it is not a delivery of goods, it appears in the advance return in the line for non-taxable other services (code 21). Before you send, you see what you pay or get back.
Send: You create the advance return monthly or quarterly; with VAT GPT Pro you send it via ELSTER.

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

Sending to ELSTER is part of Pro. Upload your Amazon or eBay report

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to pay VAT as a KDP author in Germany? You charge no German VAT on royalties from Amazon Media EU S.à r.l., because the service is supplied where the recipient runs its business (§ 3a (2) UStG). Under standard taxation you still have to report it.

Do I need a VAT ID for KDP? The KDP help asks EU-resident authors with a registered number to enter it in their tax profile so that tax invoices are generated. The EC Sales List shows the recipient's number (§ 18a (7) UStG).

Must a small business owner file the EC Sales List? No. § 18a (1) to (3) UStG does not apply to businesses that apply § 19 (1) UStG (§ 18a (4) UStG).

Does the 7 percent rate apply to KDP royalties? The reduced rate for copyright rights applies to services supplied in Germany (§ 12 (2) no. 7 c UStG). For royalties from Amazon Media EU S.à r.l., the place of supply is not Germany.