German VAT number for Amazon sellers from the UK and outside the EU

Sounds familiar?

• A letter from the Finanzamt Hannover-Nord, in German.
• The VAT registration questionnaire asks for an authorised recipient in Germany.
• A notice posted abroad counts as received one month after posting, unless it arrived later or not at all.

VAT in Germany: what section 22f UStG requires

Section 22f UStG sets out the record-keeping duties of operators of electronic interfaces such as online marketplaces. The second sentence of paragraph 1 is addressed to the sellers themselves: businesses without a residence, habitual abode, seat or management in Germany, another EU member state or an EEA state must name an authorised recipient in Germany when they apply for tax registration.

Unlike section 123 AO, the law does not wait for a request from the tax office here: the appointment is part of the application. Section 123 sentences 2 and 3 AO remain unaffected (section 22f(1) sentence 3 UStG). Background: under section 25e UStG, a marketplace operator can be liable for the VAT of its sellers – which is why it records their tax details.

How a UK seller gets a German VAT number

A UK Ltd sells to customers in Germany through a marketplace and applies for VAT registration. The responsible office is the Finanzamt Hannover-Nord (section 1(1) no. 7 UStZustV); sellers from other countries apply to the tax office the same regulation names for their country. In the registration questionnaire, the company enters Postuvio UG (haftungsbeschränkt) as its authorised recipient – with exactly the address that PortoDoc shows in the account under "For the tax office (Finanzamt)".

After registration, the tax office issues a German tax number (Steuernummer). The VAT identification number (USt-IdNr.) is issued by the Federal Central Tax Office (Bundeszentralamt für Steuern) on application (section 27a(1) UStG).

Important: enter Postuvio UG (haftungsbeschränkt) as the authorised recipient, not your own company with a c/o address. Otherwise the tax office has your own company on file as recipient.

What PortoDoc does – and what it does not

Our limits: PortoDoc provides no legal advice, no tax advice and no fiscal representation, and does not monitor deadlines; for summaries, the original letter counts. VAT returns, the registration itself and fiscal representation are not part of the service. Every letter to your PortoDoc address with your PD number is scanned – from the tax office, the marketplace, customers or banks.

• Every letter opened, scanned and stored as a PDF in your account
• Short summary with sender, content and urgency, plus a traffic light: red = deadline or urgent, yellow = action needed, green = for information (a hint, not tax advice; the original letter counts)
• Email notification of your choice: notice only, summary, or summary with the letter as PDF
• Registered letters accepted, signed for and scanned like any other letter
• Translation into English in every plan, deadline detection from the Business plan (a non-binding AI hint; you check every deadline yourself)
• After scanning, originals kept safely stored for 90 days, then shredded; sending an original abroad costs €7.90 (letters up to 20 g)

How it works

1. Step 1

   Create an account and choose a plan

   Enter your company details: company name, country and company registration number; then choose a plan and pay. Sign-up works in English. You receive your PD number straight after ordering.

2. Step 2

   Sign the authorisation

   Download the extended authorisation for the tax office – it is already filled in with your company details –, have it signed by hand by the director and upload it to your account as PDF, JPG or PNG (max. 10 MB). The check usually takes one working day.

3. Step 3

   Enter us in the registration form

   Your account then shows the box "For the tax office (Finanzamt)" with name and address to copy. Enter exactly these details as authorised recipient in the questionnaire for VAT registration.

4. Step 4

   Read your post online

   Letters from the tax office arrive with us, are scanned and appear in your account as a PDF with a summary; you get an email.

Prices

For one tax office, Starter is the usual choice: €19.95 a month or €199.50 a year, 10 letters a month, authorisation for one authority (appointment as authorised recipient under section 123 AO). Business (€49.95 a month or €499.50 a year, 25 letters) covers any number of authorities and adds deadline detection, a non-binding AI hint; translation into English is in every plan.

Each additional letter costs €2.95. No set-up fee. The address is not a business, registered-office or imprint address.

All prices include 19% German VAT. Companies based outside Germany pay the same amount, and the invoice then shows no German VAT (EU: with a valid VAT ID, outside the EU: with proof that your company is a business, such as a certificate from your tax authority or a company register extract).

See all prices

Frequently asked questions