VAT ID Number in Germany: When Freelancers Need One

The EU client asks for your “VAT ID”

You have just landed your first job from elsewhere in the EU — a client in Amsterdam or Vienna. The order confirmation says: “Please send us your VAT ID.” You check your paperwork and only find a Steuernummer. Same thing? No. For trade with businesses in the EU you need a separate number: the USt-IdNr (VAT ID number).

In short: The VAT identification number (USt-IdNr) is an EU-wide identifier for cross-border B2B trade. You need it as soon as you invoice services to — or buy them from — businesses in other EU countries. You can apply for it at the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) or directly on the tax registration questionnaire — the legal basis is Section 27a UStG. Even small businesses (Kleinunternehmer, Section 19 UStG) may apply.

USt-IdNr vs. Steuernummer: the difference

Two numbers, two purposes — and many people mix them up:

• Steuernummer (tax number) — issued by your local Finanzamt (tax office). You use it for your tax return, VAT pre-registrations, and domestic invoices. The format depends on the federal state.
• USt-IdNr (VAT ID number) — issued by the Federal Central Tax Office (Bundeszentralamt für Steuern, BZSt). It starts with the country code DE and nine digits (e.g. DE123456789). You use it for cross-border trade within the EU.

You can — and in EU business should — hold both at once. The VAT ID number does not replace the Steuernummer; it complements it.

VAT ID number: when do you actually need one?

Not every freelancer needs a VAT ID number. It becomes relevant the moment you cross the German border.

EU B2B: services to businesses in the EU

If you provide services to a business in another EU country (B2B), the place of supply usually shifts to your client’s country. You then issue the invoice without German VAT, and your client accounts for the tax themselves — the reverse-charge mechanism under Section 13b UStG. For this to work, both sides must state a valid VAT ID number on the invoice. The invoicing details are covered in the article on international reverse charge.

Buying from the EU

The reverse situation is often overlooked: as soon as you buy services from EU businesses — a software subscription from Ireland, ads through an EU platform, a design tool from the Netherlands — you as the recipient owe the VAT in Germany (reverse charge again). The provider needs your VAT ID number for this; otherwise they charge you foreign VAT that is hard to recover.

Digital services and OSS

If you sell digital services to private individuals in other EU countries (e-books, online courses, apps), the destination principle applies above the EU-wide threshold of 10,000 euros in annual turnover. You then report these sales centrally through the One-Stop-Shop (OSS) at the BZSt — and registering with the BZSt is the right route here too.

Small businesses too

A widespread myth: “As a Kleinunternehmer I don’t need this.” Wrong. The small-business rule under Section 19 UStG (thresholds: 25,000 euros prior-year turnover, 100,000 euros in the current year) only concerns domestic VAT. As soon as you deal cross-border with EU businesses, you need a VAT ID number even as a small business — and you may apply for it at the BZSt. More on the threshold in the small-business limit.

How to apply for the VAT ID number

There are two routes:

Route 1: directly at the BZSt (online)

If you already have a Steuernummer and need the VAT ID number afterwards, you apply online through the Federal Central Tax Office portal. You provide your Steuernummer, your responsible Finanzamt, and your business details. Assignment usually takes only a few days and arrives in writing.

Route 2: on the tax registration questionnaire

If you are just registering, tick the VAT ID number box on the Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung (the tax registration questionnaire you send to your Finanzamt through ELSTER, Germany’s official tax portal). The Finanzamt then forwards the request to the BZSt automatically, and you often receive the number together with your Steuernummer.

Tip: If you can already foresee EU clients or EU service purchases, apply for the VAT ID number right at registration. It saves you a separate application later.

The EC Sales List: the duty that follows

The VAT ID number comes with a reporting duty. Anyone providing VAT-exempt intra-EU B2B services must file an EC Sales List (Zusammenfassende Meldung, ZM) with the BZSt under Section 18a UStG. In it you list:

• the VAT ID number of every EU business client,
• the turnover with that client in the reporting period.

You usually file the ZM electronically with the BZSt monthly or quarterly by the 25th of the following month. Important: the ZM is in addition to the normal VAT pre-registration, not instead of it. How the pre-registration itself works is explained in VAT for freelancers.

Checking your client’s VAT ID number

Before you send a VAT-exempt invoice abroad, check whether your client’s VAT ID number is valid. If it later turns out the number was wrong, the Finanzamt can reclaim the VAT from you.

You can check via:

• VIES — the EU-wide online system for confirming VAT ID numbers,
• the BZSt confirmation service — here you get a qualified confirmation that, beyond validity, also matches your client’s name and address.

Always use the qualified confirmation and save the proof. It is your evidence that you checked carefully — and protects you if the Finanzamt follows up later.

More basics for your business are on our page for freelancers, and an overview of Restio is on the homepage.

How Restio helps

Once EU business enters the picture, the flood of documents quickly gets messy. Restio keeps it together:

• Scan receipts and store them permanently — photograph incoming and outgoing invoices; Restio captures them, including the VAT ID number on the document, and files them permanently and in order.
• Bank statement import — import your account transactions and match each payment to an EU provider to the right receipt.
• EÜR dossier — your income and expenses stay sorted by the categories of the EÜR form at any time, including cross-border turnover.
• DATEV CSV export — to hand things to your tax advisor, export everything structured as a DATEV CSV.

Get Restio — and stay on top of things even in EU business.

Further reading

• Section 27a UStG — VAT identification number (Gesetze im Internet)
• Federal Central Tax Office — apply for and confirm a VAT ID number