Kaufland marketplace: VAT for sellers in Germany

You owe the VAT yourself if you sell on Kaufland.de or another marketplace and are not a small business owner. The marketplace does not take it off your hands. It may be liable for unpaid tax (§ 25e UStG) and must record details about you (§ 22f UStG).

Last updated: 29 October 2026

In short

Valid VAT ID: If you have one, the marketplace is, as a rule, not liable for your tax. There are exceptions.
Small business owner: Up to €25,000 in the previous year and €100,000 in the current year you are exempt, without input VAT deduction.
EU sales: Over €10,000 of distance sales a year, the destination country applies. The conditions are in the section on EU countries.

What does this look like in an example?

A customer buys from you on the marketplace for €59.50 gross, tax rate 19 percent (§ 12 UStG). That includes €50.00 net and €9.50 VAT.

	Regular taxation	Small business owner
VAT you owe	€9.50	€0.00 (§ 19 (1) UStG)
Where you report it	VAT advance return, period of the sale	nowhere, no tax shown
Shown on the invoice	19% tax, €9.50	no tax shown, reference to § 19

The €9.50 does not belong to you but to the tax office, even if it is included in the marketplace's payout. If the marketplace keeps a commission from your price (for illustration 10 percent of €59.50, that is €5.95; this is not a Kaufland rate), that changes nothing about the tax: it is based on the consideration the customer pays, not on the payout. The marketplace does not deduct the commission from the VAT; it is a business expense.

What this means for you: if you are under regular taxation, you calculate the VAT out of the selling price; the commission is a business expense.

Who owes the VAT: you or the marketplace?

As a rule, you. VAT applies to supplies that a business makes in Germany for consideration as part of its business (§ 1 (1) no. 1 UStG). The same question on another marketplace is answered in VAT collected by Amazon: what it means for you and Marketplace VAT liability in Germany (§ 25e UStG).

In the Act, a marketplace is an "electronic interface". That is an electronic marketplace, platform or portal (§ 25e (5) UStG). Anyone who supports the supply of a good through it is called the operator. The operator is liable for the unpaid tax from that supply (§ 25e (1) UStG). Liability means the tax office can turn to the operator if the seller does not pay. Your duty as a seller remains unaffected.

Liability falls away if you have a valid VAT ID at the time of supply. It must have been issued by the Federal Central Tax Office (§ 25e (2) sentence 1 UStG). This does not apply if the operator knew, or with the care of a prudent businessperson should have known, that you do not or not fully meet your tax duties (§ 25e (2) sentence 2 UStG).

In addition, the tax office may notify the operator that you do not meet your tax duties, or not to a substantial extent. For deals made after this notice, the operator is then also liable despite a valid VAT ID. It is not liable if it proves within the set period that you can no longer offer goods through its interface (§ 25e (4) UStG).

When the operator is itself treated as the supplier is set out in § 3 (3a) UStG. This covers two cases:

A business not established in the EU supplies, through the interface, to certain recipients within the EU (§ 3a (5) sentence 1 UStG).
The interface supports the distance sale of goods imported from a third country in consignments with an intrinsic value of up to €150.

The operator is then treated as if it had received and supplied the goods itself.

If you supply from Germany as a domestic seller, the first case does not apply to you. Whether the second affects your range depends on where the goods come from.

What this means for you: you owe the VAT on your sales yourself; the marketplace is not your supplier.

Does the small business scheme apply on a marketplace?

Yes, it also applies to your sales on the marketplace. Your turnover is exempt if total turnover in the previous calendar year did not exceed €25,000 and does not exceed €100,000 in the current year (§ 19 (1) UStG). Total turnover is the sum of your taxable supplies, calculated on amounts received (§ 19 (2) UStG). All sales count, not only those on a marketplace.

In invoices you must not show VAT separately. You must refer to the exemption under § 19 (1) UStG. You have no input VAT deduction (Finanzamt Hessen). Limits, exceptions and the waiver trap: VAT return for a small business in Germany: do I have to file?

What this means for you: the small business scheme works on marketplaces too, as long as you stay within its limits.

What does the marketplace record about me?

For supplies where transport begins or ends in Germany, the operator records the following:

name and address of the supplying business
its internet address
its VAT ID issued by the Federal Central Tax Office
as far as known, the tax number issued by the tax office (§ 22f (1) UStG)

It keeps the records for ten years, counted from the end of the year in which the sale took place. On request it transmits them electronically to the tax office (§ 22f (4) UStG).

If a marketplace asks for your numbers, this recording duty is usually behind it. If you do not register on the marketplace as a business, the record covers name, address and the sale data. The operator also records your date of birth (§ 22f (2) UStG).

But if you sell continuously to earn income, you are a business for VAT, even without a profit motive (§ 2 (1) UStG). Then registering as a business is part of it. How to get a tax number: Tax number in Germany: applying online. Which number for what: Etsy: which tax number to enter.

What this means for you: expect the marketplace to record your data for supplies that start or end in Germany.

What applies when I sell to other EU countries?

If you ship goods to private customers in another EU country, this is an intra-Community distance sale. The place of supply is where the goods are when the transport ends, which is the buyer's country (§ 3c (1) UStG).

There is a de minimis limit. If your seat or establishment is in only one member state, the rule does not apply as long as the total of these sales did not exceed €10,000 in the previous year. It must not exceed it in the current year either (§ 3c (4) UStG).

Above it you pay the VAT of the destination country. Instead of registering in each country, you can take part in the OSS, which you notify (§ 18j UStG). More: EU OSS threshold of €10,000, Distance sales in Germany under § 3c UStG, OSS return for online sellers.

What this means for you: for EU private customers check the €10,000 threshold before applying German VAT.

How do I report marketplace sales in the advance return?

If you are not a small business owner, you submit an advance return by the tenth day after the end of the return period (§ 18 (1) UStG). If the tax in the previous year was no more than €2,000, the tax office can release you from this (§ 18 (2) UStG).

The tax rate is 19 percent. For certain goods 7 percent applies (§ 12 UStG). You find out which rate fits your product from the Act or with the tax office. Deadlines and permanent extension: German advance VAT return (UStVA): filing online.

What this means for you: file the advance return by the tenth day after the period and include marketplace sales.

Which mistakes happen often?

Thinking the marketplace pays your VAT for you. It is liable under conditions but does not replace your advance return.
Not storing the VAT ID although you are taxed normally. With a valid VAT ID the operator's liability falls away, as a rule (§ 25e (2) UStG). It must record it under § 22f (1) no. 3 UStG.
Treating all marketplace sales as private sales. Continuing activity to earn income makes you a business for VAT. Then your turnover decides whether the small business scheme applies.
Overlooking EU sales. Over €10,000 of distance sales a year, the destination country applies (§ 3c (4) UStG).
Showing VAT in the invoice as a small business owner. This is not permitted (Finanzamt Hessen).

If a wrong VAT treatment was found later, see VAT back payment in Germany: how many years back?.

What this means for you: keep your own records, because the marketplace's data does not replace your return.

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

For your marketplace sales, that means:

Upload: You upload sales reports as CSV or invoices and receipts. CSV recognition is built for Amazon and eBay. For receipts, the AI reads amounts, countries and tax rates.
Check: VAT GPT sorts the sales into Germany, OSS and other cases. From this come the advance return, monthly or quarterly, and the OSS return for all EU countries. You check and confirm.
Send: With VAT GPT Pro you send via ELSTER to the tax office and the OSS return to the BZSt.

Try VAT GPT

Frequently asked questions

Does Kaufland pay the VAT for me? No. The operator is liable under the conditions of § 25e UStG for unpaid tax from your supply. Your duty to file remains. § 3 (3a) UStG sets an exception: supplies by sellers without a seat in the EU to private customers, and distance sales from third countries up to €150.

Do I need a VAT ID to sell on a marketplace? The law requires the operator to record the VAT ID (§ 22f (1) no. 3 UStG). Its freedom from liability depends on a valid VAT ID (§ 25e (2) UStG). What your marketplace asks for in its registration form, you see in the form in your account.

Do I have to pay VAT as a small business owner? No, as long as you stay within the limits of €25,000 and €100,000 (§ 19 (1) UStG). You must then not show VAT separately (Finanzamt Hessen).

How long does the marketplace keep my data? The operator keeps its records for ten years, counted from the end of the year in which the sale took place (§ 22f (4) UStG).

What applies if my seat is outside the EU? Businesses without residence, seat or management in Germany, the EU or the EEA name a domestic recipient of documents when applying for tax registration (§ 22f (1) UStG).