Finanzamt Berlin International (until 2023: Finanzamt Neukölln): what its letters mean

Which businesses is Berlin International responsible for?

Berlin International is the catch-all office. As a rule, Germany assigns one tax office per foreign country for VAT (§ 1 (1) UStZustV); every country that is not on this list falls to Finanzamt Berlin International (§ 1 (2) UStZustV). That covers, for example, businesses based in:

• China
• Hong Kong
• Pakistan
• Nigeria
• Canada
• Australia

Two countries are named directly: the list assigns Greece (no. 8) and North Macedonia (no. 16) to Berlin International. According to the Berlin Senate, the office handles businesses from more than 100 countries.

Other offices: UK businesses go to Finanzamt Hannover-Nord, US businesses to Finanzamt Bonn-Innenstadt, Turkish businesses to Finanzamt Dortmund-Unna (§ 1 (1) no. 7, 34 and 30 UStZustV).

Why Berlin International and not Neukölln?

Until December 2023, Finanzamt Neukölln was the catch-all tax office for these businesses. Berlin then moved the task to a new office: Finanzamt Berlin International was established on 1 December 2023 and opened on 4 December 2023.

If an older document names Finanzamt Neukölln, the office responsible today is Berlin International.

The office is big because the number of foreign sellers grew fast. The Berlin Senate reported these registered online sellers based in China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan at Finanzamt Neukölln:

Source: Berlin House of Representatives, printed paper 19/16480 (Senate answer of 5 September 2023). The figures for 2018 to 2020 include about 450 businesses from these regions that are not online sellers.

When the new office opened, the Senate counted more than 115,000 registered foreign businesses, more than 110,000 of them based in China, Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan (press release of 4 December 2023).

What Berlin International sends by post

• Mitteilung über die Erteilung einer Steuernummer

  Your German tax number

  Confirms your registration. Keep the tax number (Steuernummer) safe. It belongs on every return and every letter you send to the office.

• Erinnerung · Aufforderung zur Abgabe der Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldung

  Reminder: a VAT return is missing

  The office has not received a return for a period. File it before the deadline in the letter, otherwise surcharges or an estimate may follow.

• Festsetzung eines Verspätungszuschlags

  Late filing surcharge

  A charge because a return came late (§ 152 AO). The letter states the amount and the payment date.

• Bescheid … (Schätzung)

  Estimated tax assessment

  If returns are missing, the office may estimate your tax (§ 162 AO). You can object within one month.

• Benennung eines Empfangsbevollmächtigten

  Request to name an authorised recipient

  The office asks you to name a person or company in Germany who receives letters for you (§ 123 AO).

• Rückfragen · Anforderung von Unterlagen

  Questions or requests for documents

  For example contracts, invoices or proof of your business. Reply in time; if you need longer, ask for an extension before the deadline ends.

Why do you need a German address and an authorised recipient?

German tax offices write in German (§ 87 AO), mostly by post. If your business has no seat in the EU or EEA, the tax office can ask you to name an authorised recipient in Germany (Empfangsbevollmächtigter, § 123 AO).

Marketplace sellers based outside the EU and the EEA must name one with their VAT registration (§ 22f (1) sentence 2 UStG). The VAT registration form for businesses based abroad has its own section for this, called „Empfangsbevollmächtigte(r)“.

If you do not name anyone after the tax office asks you to, a letter posted to you abroad counts as delivered one month after it was sent, unless it is established that it arrived later or not at all (§ 123 AO). That is why the address alone is not enough: someone has to open and read the letter in time.

• Objection (Einspruch): within one month after the assessment is notified (Bekanntgabe, § 355 (1) AO).
• Deadlines in the letter: Many letters set their own date („bis zum …“). That date counts.

What PortoDoc does

1. 01You sign up and sign a power of attorney. You then name PortoDoc to the tax office as your authorised recipient, using the details from your account.
2. 02The tax office writes to our address in Ahrensburg near Hamburg. We scan each letter and you get a notification.
3. 03The letter appears in your account as a PDF. Every plan includes an English AI translation; depending on your plan, you also get an AI summary: non-binding aids, not tax advice; the original letter counts.
4. 04You or your tax adviser reply to the tax office. We do not file returns, give tax advice or monitor deadlines.

Common questions