Sales Tax Solutions You need to Understand for a Smooth Business

In practice, the following sales are often to be found. Various requirements are attached to these, and the biller is always responsible for compliance with them:

Non-taxable sales

As already described under question 4, conversely, sales are not taxable if they were not carried out in Germany. So if the place of sales due to a service is considered to be located abroad, the entrepreneur providing the service is non-taxable sales. In these cases, in addition to the general requirements for an invoice, which are listed under question 2, the following additional information must be given or requirements must be met:

Sales tax may not be charged. The sales tax identification number (UIN or UStID) of the service recipient must be specified. (However, only applies to services to entrepreneurs in the EU) If necessary, there must also be a reference to the so-called reverse charge procedure, with which the service recipient is informed that he has to meet tax consequences from the service provided to him.

Intra-community deliveries

In the case of an intra-community delivery, an entrepreneur sells an item to another entrepreneur based within the EU. It is only present if the object, the goods, are actually transported or sent from the EU country of the supplying company to the EU country of the receiving company. Such intra-community deliveries are generally tax-free. However, the tax exemption can only be claimed if, in addition to the other requirements, the sales tax identification number (UIN or VAT ID) of both parties is noted on the invoice. As you calculate sales tax you can find the best results there.

Export deliveries

As with intra-Community delivery, the object of the delivery (goods) leaves the country of origin with the export delivery. However, at the end of the transport or dispatch, the item ends up in the third country and not in an EU country. Since entrepreneurs outside the EU cannot appear with a sales tax identification number in connection with such deliveries of goods, evidence of the actual export of the item from the EU is sufficient for the supplying entrepreneur to claim a tax exemption that is also available here. In practice, this is usually done by submitting customs export documents.

When does the invoiced sales tax have to be paid to the tax office?

Basically the following applies:

By the 10th day after the end of each pre-registration period, the entrepreneur has to submit a pre-registration according to the officially prescribed data set by remote data transmission in accordance with the Tax Data Transmission Ordinance, in which he has to calculate the tax for the pre-registration period (advance payment) himself. Upon request, the tax office can dispense with electronic transmission to avoid undue hardship.

The pre-registration period is generally the calendar quarter. If the tax for the previous calendar year is more than 7,500 euros, the calendar month is the pre-registration period If the entrepreneur starts his professional or commercial activity, the calendar month is the calendar month in the current and following calendar year.