OSS return from DATEV: how the export reaches the BZSt

You do not file the OSS return from within DATEV itself. DATEV exports the values of the OSS EU evaluation as a transport file (CSV) for manual upload at the BZSt (DATEV). The return itself goes into the BZStOnline portal, by form or CSV import. The booking batch for bookkeeping is a different file.

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

In short

Return: All OSS forms go to the BZSt electronically (BZSt); a DATEV booking batch is not an OSS return.
Without DATEV: You file in the portal by form or CSV import; booking data goes separately to your tax advisor.
Records: They must allow the return and payments to be checked and be kept for ten years (BZSt).

How do the OSS return and DATEV fit together?

There are three usual routes. Which one fits depends on who does your bookkeeping.

Route 1: your tax advisor files with DATEV. On its One-Stop-Shop page DATEV states that the DATEV accounting programs can export the values of the OSS EU evaluation into a transport file (CSV) for manual upload at the BZSt. The details are in the DATEV help centre. For this you supply clean sales data per country and VAT rate.

Route 2: you file yourself, the advisor books. You submit the OSS return in the BZStOnline portal. In parallel your tax advisor gets your receipts and booking data so that the OSS sales and OSS tax are correctly recorded. How the booking looks in SKR03 and SKR04 is covered in booking OSS VAT.

Route 3: you file yourself and keep the figures yourself. Then you use the form or the CSV import in the portal. More on the import: OSS return software.

What this means for you: Pick the route that matches who does your bookkeeping, and keep the return itself in the BZStOnline portal.

How does the OSS return get from DATEV into the portal?

Export: Your tax advisor creates the transport file from the OSS EU evaluation in DATEV Rechnungswesen (DATEV).
Log in: You or your advisor log in to the BZStOnline portal. DATEV gives this path to the form: Formulare, Alle Formulare, Steuer International, One-Stop-Shop (OSS) (DATEV).
Import: You can file the return with an import function (BZSt). You upload the CSV and check the values.
Send and pay: The portal transmits the return electronically. Payment must reach the Bundeskasse by the end of the following month.

What this means for you: Have the transport file exported from DATEV, then upload and check it in the portal before sending.

What does the CSV for the import look like?

The BZStOnline portal describes the layout in an import help. These are the main rules:

Encoding: The file must be UTF-8.
Length: At most 6000 data rows can be imported.
Numbers: The decimal separator is a point, and amounts are positive numbers; only in row type 6 is 0.00 also allowed.
Row types: Each data row starts with a number, the row type. In the import help's examples a first line with the version (#v2.0) comes before them. 1 stands for the country of consumption, 2 for services, 3 for goods supplied from Germany and 6 for corrections of earlier periods.
Tax amount: It may differ by at most 5.00 euro from the amount the portal calculates from the rate and the net amount.

According to the BZSt you use the import function at your own risk. So check the values in the portal before you send.

What this means for you: Build the CSV to the portal's rules (UTF-8, at most 6000 rows, tax amount within 5.00 euro of the portal's figure) and check the values before you send.

What must the data contain?

Whatever the route, the BZSt requires the details separately for each EU member state and broken down by tax rates, in euro. Domestic sales do not belong in the OSS return (see which sales go into the OSS return). Records must be kept on the sales under the scheme that make it possible to check the return and payments for correctness. They must be available electronically to the BZSt on request and kept for ten years.

What this means for you: Give the BZSt the data per member state and tax rate in euro, and keep your records for ten years.

What does your tax advisor need from you?

Your tax advisor needs a date, net amount, tax, tax rate and the customer's country in every line. Without the country a sale cannot be assigned to a member state. If you sell on Etsy, see Etsy OSS return from Germany: when, number, data.

What this means for you: Give your tax advisor date, net, tax, rate and the customer's country for every line.

Which mistakes come up most often?

Treating a booking file as the return. The return goes through the BZStOnline portal, not through the booking batch.
Not supplying the customer's country. Without a country there is no assignment to a member state.
Mixing up gross and net. The return needs the net sales.
Forgetting the payment. The tax must have reached the federal treasury by the end of the following month (see paying the OSS VAT).
Not agreeing the account mapping. Your tax advisor decides the accounts for OSS sales with you.

If you are excluded from the OSS, see Excluded from the OSS: reasons, the ban, what follows; for letters from tax offices, see OSS letter from a foreign tax office or the BZSt: what to do.

What this means for you: Do not treat a booking file as the return, supply the country for every sale and pay on time.

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

You export data for your tax advisor, and you send the OSS return separately from it.

Data export for your tax advisor: you receive a ZIP file with your invoice data for a year, a quarter, a month or all years. It contains:

your income and expense receipts as original files, filed by year, quarter and month,
an overview table (CSV) each for income and expenses with date, gross, net, VAT, currency, receipt file and the business partner's country,
a DATEV booking batch file (EXTF file, the name starts with EXTF_Buchungsstapel) for your tax advisor, which can be imported into DATEV Rechnungswesen.

You enter the consultant number and client number in the DATEV settings; if you do not know them you can add them later. The account mapping is a suggestion that you agree with your tax advisor.

OSS return: VAT GPT calculates the return from your sales data, separately from the export:

Upload: You upload your Amazon or eBay CSV reports and your invoices. The AI reads amounts, countries and tax rates. VAT GPT flags invoices with low confidence for manual review.
Check: VAT GPT separates German VAT from OSS VAT and calculates the OSS return for all EU countries. You check and confirm.
Send: With VAT GPT Pro, the OSS return goes directly to the BZSt. Try VAT GPT

Frequently asked questions

Can I submit the OSS return from DATEV? Not directly. DATEV describes an export of the OSS EU evaluation into a transport file (CSV) for manual upload at the BZSt (DATEV). You send the return in the BZStOnline portal.

Is a DATEV booking batch an OSS return? No. The return is transmitted electronically to the BZSt through the BZStOnline portal (BZSt).

What does my tax advisor need from me? The sales data with date, net, tax, tax rate and the customer's country, plus the receipts.

How long must I keep OSS records? Ten years (BZSt).

Which file do I upload in the BZStOnline portal? A UTF-8 CSV file with at most 6000 data rows, built as the BZSt import help describes.

Can I report a correction by CSV? Yes. The import help has its own row type 6 for corrections of earlier tax periods.

Where do I find the details of the DATEV export? In the DATEV help centre under "OSS-EU-Auswertung: Transportdatei für BZSt erzeugen", as DATEV states on its page.

Can I file without DATEV? Yes, with the form or the CSV import in the BZStOnline portal (BZSt).