E-invoices for online sellers: B2C and B2B

If you sell to private customers, you do not have to issue an e-invoice. If a business in Germany orders, you must issue one for supplies from 2027 if your total turnover last year was above 800,000 euros, otherwise from 2028. You already have to be able to receive e-invoices now.

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

Invoices up to 250 euros gross are exempt. If you are a small business (section 19 UStG), you do not have to issue e-invoices at all (section 34a UStDV).

Last updated: 29 October 2026

In brief

B2C: no e-invoice duty, also not on Amazon and eBay.
B2B in Germany: duty on the transition timetable, except up to 250 euros gross and for small businesses.
Fee invoices from Amazon or eBay are incoming invoices; the issuer has to send them as e-invoices only if both of you are established in Germany.

Which sales are affected?

You sell on Amazon or eBay to private people and now and then to a company. For the duty, what counts is who the recipient is:

Buyer	E-invoice duty for you
Private customer (end consumer)	no
Business in Germany, invoice above 250 euros gross	yes, on the timetable (2027 or 2028)
Business in Germany, invoice up to 250 euros gross	no (section 33 UStDV)
Business in another EU country	no, if the business has no permanent establishment in Germany involved in the supply (section 14 (2) sentence 2 no. 1 UStG); you still owe an invoice under the usual invoice rules
Association or body that is not a business	no

For private customers you may issue an invoice voluntarily. For a delivery of goods you are usually not obliged to (section 14 (2) UStG). If you ship the goods from another EU country to a private person in Germany (distance sale, section 3c (1) UStG), you must issue an invoice unless you use the OSS scheme (section 14a (2) UStG). It does not have to be an e-invoice even then. The full timetable is in E-invoice obligation in Germany 2027. For print on demand, see print on demand and VAT in Germany.

What this means for you: Check who the buyer is: only business recipients in Germany trigger the e-invoice duty.

What about Amazon Business and eBay business buyers?

A business customer in Germany is a B2B case for you, even if they order through a marketplace account. Amazon states on its page for sellers that all VAT-registered European sellers must provide Amazon Business customers with a valid VAT invoice for every order. Whether that invoice has to be an e-invoice in the legal sense depends on the rules above, not on the marketplace. The Amazon Business cases are covered in more detail in E-invoices for Amazon Business customers.

For eBay sellers the same principle applies: you are the supplier, you owe the invoice.

What this means for you: A business customer in Germany is a B2B case for you, even if they order through a marketplace account.

What does the marketplace issue, what do you issue?

Two streams of invoices run side by side:

Invoices to your customers for your deliveries are issued by you as the seller; they are a duty in the cases above. An invoice may be issued by a third party in the name and on behalf of the business (section 14 (2) UStG). With the Amazon VAT Calculation Service, Amazon prepares the electronic VAT invoices automatically and makes them available to customers for download. Depending on store, country of establishment, shipping destination and customer preference the service creates for Amazon Business orders what Amazon calls an "E-Rechnung" (e-invoice) or an "E-Bericht" (e-report). More: Amazon VAT Calculation Service (VCS) explained. Open such an invoice and check which format it is in.
Invoices to you for fees are issued by Amazon and eBay. These are incoming invoices. The issuer has to send them as e-invoices only if both of you are established in Germany (section 14 (2) sentence 2 no. 1 UStG); you must be able to receive e-invoices in any case. How to read and keep them is in Receive and read e-invoices.

For eBay, see invoices to eBay buyers.

What this means for you: The invoice to your customer is yours to issue, even if the marketplace issues other invoices.

Checklist for online sellers

Clarify the buyer: private or business, Germany or abroad?
Check the amount: above 250 euros gross?
Check the date: when was the supply made, and was your total turnover last year above 800,000 euros?
Open the marketplace invoice: what format is it, and does it fit the duty?
Set up receiving: e-mail inbox, viewer, filing.
Keep it: eight years, at least the structured part.

Records matter again in a VAT special audit.

What this means for you: Run every sale through the checklist before you decide on the invoice format.

Common mistakes

Issuing an e-invoice for every marketplace order. There is no duty for private customers.
Assuming the platform does it all. The invoice is yours, even if a third party produces it.
Forgetting the fee invoices. They are incoming invoices and belong in your files for eight years (section 14b (1) UStG).
Mixing up the date. What counts is when the supply was made.

What this means for you: Do not issue e-invoices for private customers and do not leave the invoice to the platform.

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

VAT GPT works in three steps:

Upload: You upload the Amazon or eBay report as CSV. The app also reads incoming e-invoices, for example from suppliers, when you upload them.
Check: The app breaks the VAT down for Germany and the EU (OSS). You check and confirm.
Send: With VAT GPT Pro you send the VAT return and the OSS return on.

For business customers VAT GPT creates invoices as ZUGFeRD PDF or XRechnung XML in the invoice editor, and you download the file. Get to know VAT GPT or create an account right away.

Frequently asked questions

When do I have to issue and receive e-invoices? You must be able to receive them since 1 January 2025. You must issue them for supplies to domestic businesses from 2027 if your total turnover last year was above 800,000 euros, otherwise from 2028 (section 27 (38) UStG).

Do I have to send private customers an e-invoice? No.

Does the duty apply to Amazon Business? For business customers in Germany yes, on the timetable; the marketplace does not change that.

Do I have to be able to receive eBay fee invoices as e-invoices? You must be able to receive e-invoices; which format eBay issues you check on the invoice itself.

Does it apply to invoices to EU companies? The e-invoice duty under section 14 (2) sentence 2 no. 1 UStG does not, if the company has no permanent establishment in Germany involved in the supply; you still have to issue an invoice.