Germany (DE)
Generated from the application's own per-country data files — do not edit by hand. See Adding a country to change what this page says (by changing the data, never this file).
Part 1 — In plain words
What running a business in Germany means for your documents, explained simply — no unexplained jargon (hover, or tap, any underlined term for a plain definition).
Which documents you can create, and what you can do with them
As a business based in Germany, this app lets you create and manage: quotes, invoices, credit notes, expenses, invoices you receive from suppliers, [purchase-order], [goods-receipt].
- One nuance: you can only save as a draft an invoice while its status is still "draft".
- One nuance: you can only log as received a received invoice while its status is still "received".
Sales tax (VAT)
If you're registered for VAT in Germany, the standard rate is 19% — the percentage added on top of most sales. Some categories of goods or services get a lower rate instead: 7% (reduced), 0% (zero-rated).
Fixing a mistake on an invoice you already sent
Four honest answers a country's law can give for each way of fixing a mistake: required (the law says you must use this one for this kind of situation), allowed (you may use it), forbidden (the law does not let you use it here), and unverified (nobody has checked the actual law for this one yet — not "no", just "not researched").
Germany's law has been checked, so far, for 8 of the 11 ways this app knows to fix a mistake on an invoice. The ones actually confirmed:
- Credit note — allowed
- Corrective invoice — required
- Cancel and replace — allowed
- Internal credit note — forbidden
- Authority-side annulment — required
- Resubmit under the same identity — allowed
- No document required by law — allowed
- Counterparty objection — allowed
Cancelling an invoice you've already sent
Yes. If you need to, you can cancel an invoice you already sent and issue a corrected one in its place, with no extra restriction from this country's own law.
The ID numbers a business here must show on an invoice
When you invoice someone in Germany, or when someone in Germany invoices through this app, these ID numbers matter:
- Umsatzsteuer-Identifikationsnummer (USt-IdNr.) — optional, for a company or individual.
- Handelsregisternummer — optional, for a company.
Selling to a government client
If you sell to a government body in Germany, the invoice cannot just be emailed — it must travel through zre-ozgre, built in the XRechnung format. This app handles that for you once the channel is connected; you just need to have the right information about your government client on file first.
Before you can send, you will need:
- Buyer reference (Leitweg-ID) filled in on the invoice
Whether the law forces you to use one particular delivery channel
This app does not have an answer yet for Germany on this: whether the law forces you to use one particular delivery channel. That is an open, honest gap — not a hidden default and not "probably fine": this app would rather say "not yet configured" than guess. See Adding a country for how to close it.
Extra legal text and fields every invoice must carry
This app does not have an answer yet for Germany on this: extra legal text and fields every invoice must carry. That is an open, honest gap — not a hidden default and not "probably fine": this app would rather say "not yet configured" than guess. See Adding a country for how to close it.
Part 2 — The details
Every fact below is read straight from this app's own data files, at build time — never typed by hand — with its exact legal source when one has been checked against the law itself.
Document-action policy
Document types shown for a company of this country: quote, invoice, credit-note, expense, received-invoice, purchase-order, goods-receipt.
| Type | Action | Allowed | Restricted to status | Provenance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| quote | save-draft | ✓ | — | unverified |
| quote | send | ✓ | — | legal (checked 2026-09-03) |
| quote | convert-to-invoice | ✓ | — | unverified |
| quote | request-deposit | ✓ | — | unverified |
| quote | request-installments | ✓ | — | unverified |
| quote | duplicate | ✓ | — | unverified |
| quote | share-link | ✓ | — | unverified |
| quote | request-signature | ✓ | — | unverified |
| invoice | save-draft | ✓ | draft | legal — CGI art. 289 I.5 (checked 2026-08-29) |
| invoice | send | ✓ | — | legal — VI of art. 289 CGI for France (checked 2026-09-03) |
| invoice | duplicate | ✓ | — | unverified |
| invoice | record-payment | ✓ | — | unverified |
| invoice | download-xml | ✓ | — | unverified |
| invoice | export-accounting | ✓ | — | unverified |
| invoice | share-link | ✓ | — | unverified |
| credit-note | save-draft | ✓ | — | unverified |
| credit-note | send | ✓ | — | legal — NOT the self-billing Gutschrift of § 14 Abs. 2 Satz 6 (checked 2026-08-29) |
| credit-note | share-link | ✓ | — | unverified |
| expense | save-draft | ✓ | — | unverified |
| expense | delete | ✓ | — | unverified |
| received-invoice | receive | ✓ | received | unverified |
| received-invoice | approve | ✓ | — | unverified |
| received-invoice | reject | ✓ | — | unverified |
| received-invoice | record-payment | ✓ | — | unverified |
| received-invoice | delete | ✓ | — | unverified |
| purchase-order | save-draft | ✓ | — | unverified |
| purchase-order | send | ✓ | — | legal (checked 2026-09-03) |
| purchase-order | cancel-order | ✓ | — | unverified |
| goods-receipt | save-draft | ✓ | — | unverified |
| goods-receipt | record | ✓ | — | unverified |
| goods-receipt | delete | ✓ | — | unverified |
B2G routing
What happens when a company sends an invoice to a government client of this country.
This only names the transport and format; a Peppol-based country may additionally require a national CIUS (a stricter Schematron-validated profile) and always addresses each recipient through an EAS-qualified participant id — see this country's own facts below for whether either applies here.
- Transport: zre-ozgre (
zre-ozgre) - Format: XRechnung (
xrechnung) - Document fields: Buyer reference (Leitweg-ID) (required)
- Provenance: legal — Verwaltungsportal des Bundes im Sinne von § 2 Absatz 2 des Onlinezugangsgesetzes zu nutzen (checked 2026-09-01)
Source (original language)
- Provenance: Für die Ausstellung von elektronischen Rechnungen haben Rechnungssteller und Rechnungssender grundsätzlich den Datenaustauschstandard XRechnung vom 29. September 2017 (BAnz AT 10.10.2017 B1) in der jeweils aktuellen Fassung zu verwenden. […] Für die Übermittlung von elektronischen Rechnungen haben Rechnungssteller und Rechnungssender ein Verwaltungsportal des Bundes im Sinne von § 2 Absatz 2 des Onlinezugangsgesetzes zu nutzen. Voraussetzung für die Übermittlung einer elektronischen Rechnung ist, dass der Rechnungssteller oder Rechnungssender sich zuvor mit einem Nutzerkonto im Sinne von § 2 Absatz 5 des Onlinezugangsgesetzes registriert. […] Die elektronische Rechnung hat neben den umsatzsteuerrechtlichen Rechnungsbestandteilen mindestens folgende Angaben zu enthalten: 1. eine Leitweg-Identifikationsnummer, 2. die Bankverbindungsdaten, 3. die Zahlungsbedingungen und 4. die De-Mail-Adresse oder eine E-Mail-Adresse des Rechnungsstellers.
Correction routes
Sourced: 8/11 routes (the rest are honestly unverified).
| Route | Status | Provenance |
|---|---|---|
| Credit note | allowed | legal — Belegaustausch ist NUR für die in § 17 Abs. 4 UStG bezeichneten F (checked 2026-08-29) |
| Debit note | unverified | unverified |
| Corrective invoice | required | legal — Polish lock in art. 106j ust. 4 (checked 2026-08-29) |
| Cancel and replace | allowed | legal (checked 2026-08-29) |
| Internal credit note | forbidden | legal — Applicable à la correction § 14c (checked 2026-08-29) |
| Authority-side annulment | required | legal — Abs. 1a et révocation de l'option § 9 (checked 2026-08-29) |
| Resubmit under the same identity | allowed | legal (checked 2026-08-29) |
| No document required by law | allowed | legal (checked 2026-08-29) |
| Counterparty objection | allowed | legal (checked 2026-08-29) |
| Ledger annotation only | unverified | unverified |
| Annotated duplicate | unverified | unverified |
Source (original language)
- Credit note: Ein Belegaustausch ist NUR für die in § 17 Abs. 4 UStG bezeichneten Fälle vorgeschrieben. Ein Beleg… KANN, MUSS ABER NICHT als umsatzsteuerliche Rechnung ausgestellt werden.
- Corrective invoice: unzutreffend […] Die Berichtigung muss durch ein Dokument erfolgen, das SPEZIFISCH UND EINDEUTIG AUF DIE RECHNUNG BEZOGEN ist […] EINE NEUE RECHNUNGSNUMMER FÜR DIESES DOKUMENT IST NICHT ERFORDERLICH
- Cancel and replace: Auch der Stornierung einer Rechnung nebst Neuausstellung einer sie ersetzenden Rechnung kann eine Rückwirkung beim Vorsteuerabzug zukommen […] Duplikat […] Kopie
- Internal credit note: erfolgt durch Berichtigungserklärung GEGENÜBER DEM LEISTUNGSEMPFÄNGER […] Dem Leistungsempfänger muss eine hinreichend bestimmte, schriftliche Berichtigung TATSÄCHLICH ZUGEHEN
- Authority-side annulment: Unberechtigter Steuerausweis […] kann berichtigt werden, soweit die GEFÄHRDUNG DES STEUERAUFKOMMENS BESEITIGT worden ist […] Die Berichtigung… ist beim FINANZAMT GESONDERT SCHRIFTLICH ZU BEANTRAGEN UND NACH DESSEN ZUSTIMMUNG… vorzunehmen
- Resubmit under the same identity: Es ist unschädlich, wenn die Datei zu einer E-Rechnung MEHRFACH ÜBERSANDT wird, solange es sich um dieselbe Rechnung handelt und die Übermittlung nur als inhaltlich identisches Mehrstück erfolgt.
- Counterparty objection: verliert die Wirkung einer Rechnung […] grundsätzlich UNBEFRISTET möglich
Local cancellation of an issued invoice
yes — Available, unrestricted — CANCEL_AND_REPLACE carries no status narrowing.
Tax system
- Kind: VAT
- Standard rate: 19%
- Provenance: legal — UStG § 12 Abs. 1 (checked 2026-09-13)
Every rate this country's own catalog declares (what a user actually picks per line):
| Rate | Label | Category | Provenance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19% | Regelsteuersatz | Standard | legal — UStG § 12 Abs. 1 (checked 2026-09-13) |
| 7% | Ermäßigter Steuersatz | Reduced | legal — UStG § 12 Abs. 2 (checked 2026-09-13) |
| 0% | Nullsteuersatz (Photovoltaikanlagen) | Zero-rated | legal — UStG § 12 Abs. 3 Nr. 1 (checked 2026-09-13) |
Required identifiers
| Scheme | Applies to | Label | Required | Provenance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VAT | company or individual | Umsatzsteuer-Identifikationsnummer (USt-IdNr.) | no | unverified |
| LEGAL_ID | company | Handelsregisternummer | no | unverified |
Mandatory mentions
No mentions data declared for this country.
Channel mandate (this country as a seller's own country)
This covers the delivery channel only — a country can separately require e-reporting (declaring the invoice's data to its own tax authority, regardless of delivery channel), not yet exposed on this page.
This country's law imposes no delivery channel. That is a sourced conclusion, not a gap: the file transports/channel-policy/data/de.json exists and deliberately declares no fact, with the statutes it was read against quoted in its own notes. Nothing here blocks a seller from choosing any channel the app supports.
Field overlay (bonus)
What this country adds/modifies/removes on top of the trunk document shape:
- add
buyerReferenceoninvoice - add
supplyTypeoninvoice.lines
How long documents must be kept
Each row is one legal obligation, with the article it comes from. When a country declares more than one, they bind the same business AT THE SAME TIME — they are not alternatives to choose between, so the date you must actually observe is the latest of them. The app works that date out for each archive it writes.
| Obligation | Years | Counted from | Article |
|---|---|---|---|
| umsatzsteuerlich | 8 | the end of the calendar year the document was issued in | UStG § 14b Abs. 1 Satz 1 und 3 |
| abgabenrechtlich | 8 | the end of the calendar year the document was issued in | AO § 147 Abs. 3 Satz 1 (facture = Buchungsbeleg, Abs. 1 Nr. 4), Abs. 4 |
See the glossary on the compliance matrix for the technical terms used on this page.
Generated from the application's own per-country data files — do not edit by hand. Sources: backend/src/modules/documents/country-policy/data/de.json, backend/src/modules/documents/b2g-routing/data/de.json, backend/src/modules/documents/correction-routes/data/de.json, backend/src/modules/documents/transports/channel-policy/data/de.json, backend/src/modules/documents/tax/tax-systems/data/de.json, backend/src/modules/documents/country-identifiers/data/de.json, backend/src/modules/documents/country-fields/data/de.json, backend/src/modules/documents/vat-rates/data/de.json.