German VAT Calculator
Mehrwertsteuer made simple — 19% standard, 7% reduced, added on or stripped out.
This German VAT calculator starts on the standard Mehrwertsteuer rate of 19%, with the 7% reduced rate one click away. Enter a net figure to see the Bruttobetrag your customer pays, or enter a gross figure to pull out the Nettobetrag and the tax inside it. You can also switch country if the document in front of you is not German.
Germany uses two words for what is essentially the same tax. Umsatzsteuer (USt.) is the legal term — the tax on turnover that a business owes the state — while Mehrwertsteuer (MwSt.) is the everyday label you see printed on receipts and shop prices. Invoices use either. The related term Vorsteuer means input tax: the VAT a business has been charged on its own purchases and can deduct from what it owes.
The 19% Regelsteuersatz applies to most goods and services. The 7% ermäßigter Steuersatz is a defined list that includes groceries and most food for home consumption, books, newspapers and magazines, and local public transport, alongside cultural admissions and a few other categories. German VAT is administered not by a single national office but by the Finanzamt responsible for your business, which is who you should ask when a classification is unclear.
How to calculate German MwSt.
- Decide the direction — netto to brutto (adding MwSt.) or brutto to netto (removing it).
- Enter the amount shown on your Rechnung, quote or receipt.
- Keep 19% for standard-rated supplies, or switch to 7% for groceries, books, newspapers and local public transport.
- Read the net, the MwSt. and the gross side by side — they should reconcile with the VAT line on the invoice.
- Change country in the selector if you are checking an invoice from outside Germany.
What sits at 19% and what qualifies for 7%
The 19% standard rate is the default for electronics, clothing, furniture, fuel, alcohol, professional services, and almost every business-to-business supply. If a supply is not on the reduced list in the Umsatzsteuergesetz, it is standard-rated — there is no general discretion to apply 7% because a product feels essential.
The 7% list is specific and sometimes counterintuitive. Basic groceries qualify, but many prepared and luxury food items do not; books, newspapers and periodicals qualify, including their electronic equivalents; local passenger transport qualifies. Water supply, admissions to theatres and museums, and certain agricultural products also appear. The list is amended by legislation, so check the current Anlage 2 categories or ask your Finanzamt rather than assuming.
Die Kleinunternehmerregelung: the small-business rule
Section 19 of the Umsatzsteuergesetz lets very small traders opt out of charging VAT altogether. If your turnover stays under the limits set for the previous and current year, you can operate as a Kleinunternehmer: you issue invoices with no VAT on them, carrying a note referring to the rule, and you do not pay VAT over to the Finanzamt.
The catch is symmetrical — as a Kleinunternehmer you also cannot deduct Vorsteuer on your own purchases, which hurts if you are investing in equipment or stock. You can waive the rule and register normally, but the waiver binds you for several years. The turnover limits have been raised by legislation more than once, so take the current figures from the Finanzamt or your Steuerberater before you rely on them.
Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldung and filing through ELSTER
Registered businesses file an Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldung, an advance return, either monthly or quarterly depending on the size of the previous year's liability, with newly founded businesses often placed on monthly filing at the outset. These are submitted electronically through ELSTER, the tax administration's online portal, and the payment is due shortly after the period ends.
A Dauerfristverlängerung — a permanent filing extension — buys an extra month for each return, and monthly filers obtain it by paying a Sondervorauszahlung, a special advance payment that is credited back later in the year. On top of all the advance returns comes the annual Umsatzsteuererklärung, which reconciles the year and produces the final figure. This calculator helps you get individual amounts right; it does not file anything with ELSTER.
Rechnung requirements under §14 UStG
A German invoice must show the full name and address of both supplier and recipient, the supplier's tax number (Steuernummer) or VAT identification number (USt-IdNr.), the date of issue, a sequential invoice number, the quantity and nature of what was supplied, the date of supply, the net amount broken down by rate, the rate applied, and the resulting tax amount stated separately. Any advance-payment discount agreement must be mentioned.
Small-value invoices are allowed a simplified set of details. Where the tax is not charged — an exempt supply, a reverse charge, or the Kleinunternehmerregelung — the invoice must state the reason. Germany has also begun phasing in mandatory structured electronic invoicing for domestic business-to-business transactions, with the obligations arriving in stages, so check where your business currently sits in that timetable.
Vorsteuerabzug: reclaiming input tax
The Vorsteuerabzug is the mechanism that keeps VAT neutral for businesses. Tax charged to you on business purchases is deducted from the tax you owe on your sales, and only the difference goes to the Finanzamt. The deduction depends on holding an invoice that meets the statutory requirements, which is why German bookkeeping pays such close attention to invoice detail — a missing USt-IdNr. can cost you the deduction.
Deduction is restricted where purchases relate to exempt supplies, and is apportioned where an item is used partly for private purposes. Business entertainment and certain vehicle costs have their own rules. If a supplier's invoice is defective, ask for a corrected one rather than deducting anyway and hoping it is never queried in a Betriebsprüfung.
Dine-in, takeaway and other borderline cases
The classic German VAT question is food eaten on the premises versus food taken away, because service elements can push a supply from the reduced band into the standard one. The treatment has been the subject of both litigation and repeated legislative change over recent years, including temporary measures, so this is precisely the area where a rate remembered from a few years ago is likely to be out of date.
Similar borderlines exist for hotel accommodation versus the breakfast and parking sold alongside it, for combined goods-and-services packages, and for e-books and audiobooks compared with their printed originals. Where money is involved, look up the current position for the date of supply and, if the amounts are material, get it confirmed by your Finanzamt or Steuerberater.
Cross-border trade and the honest limits of this page
Business-to-business supplies to VAT-registered customers in other EU member states are generally zero-rated as innergemeinschaftliche Lieferungen, provided you hold and have verified the customer's USt-IdNr. and can evidence the movement of goods; the customer accounts for the tax at home. Services often fall under the reverse charge, and distance selling to consumers across the EU is handled through the One Stop Shop rather than by registering everywhere.
None of that is decided by a calculator. This page applies the 19% or 7% arithmetic — remember that removing 19% means dividing by 1.19, so a €119 gross is €100 net and €19 of tax, not €96.39 — and leaves classification, registration and filing to the professionals. Rates and rules change, some goods are treated unexpectedly, and the Finanzamt is the authority. Everything you enter stays in your browser.
Frequently asked questions
What is the VAT rate in Germany?
The standard Mehrwertsteuer rate is 19%, with a reduced 7% rate for groceries, books, newspapers, local public transport and certain other listed supplies.
What is the difference between MwSt. and USt.?
They describe the same tax. Umsatzsteuer is the legal term used in the law and on tax returns; Mehrwertsteuer is the everyday word printed on receipts and shop prices. Vorsteuer is the deductible input tax.
How do I remove 19% MwSt. from a gross price?
Divide the gross by 1.19. A €119 gross figure is €100 net and €19 of tax. Subtracting 19% from €119 gives €96.39, which is wrong and would understate the tax.
What is the Kleinunternehmerregelung?
A small-business rule in §19 UStG allowing traders under set turnover limits to invoice without VAT. They also lose the right to deduct input tax, and waiving the rule binds them for several years.
How often are German VAT returns filed?
Advance returns are filed monthly or quarterly through ELSTER depending on the previous year's liability, with new businesses often monthly, plus an annual return that reconciles the year.
Is this German tax advice?
No — it is an arithmetic tool. Rates, thresholds and classifications change, and many supplies are treated unexpectedly. Confirm with your Finanzamt or a Steuerberater before relying on a figure.