German VAT fiscal representative or authorised recipient? What non-EU sellers actually need

Two roles side by side

The fiscal representative: narrow by law

Under § 22a(1) UStG, a business that has no residence, registered office, place of management or branch in Germany (or in the areas listed in § 1(3) UStG, such as free ports) can be represented in Germany by a fiscal representative – if it makes exclusively tax-exempt supplies in Germany and cannot deduct input tax. It is a "can" rule: an option, not an obligation.

The test is a seat outside Germany, not outside the EU, so businesses from other EU states fall under it too. The fiscal representative needs a power of attorney from the business it represents. Forwarding agents and customs agents can act only with an authorisation under § 4d StBerG, with their seat within the scope of the Tax Advisory Act, and not under the small-business rule (§ 22a(2) sentence 2 UStG).

If your sales in Germany are taxable – as sales of goods to customers usually are – the condition of exclusively tax-exempt supplies is not met, and § 22a UStG does not offer you fiscal representation. The representative files quarterly advance returns and an annual return for all the businesses it represents, under a tax number issued to it for this role (§ 22d(1) UStG), and it has to be authorised to provide assistance in tax matters.

The authorised recipient: about letters, not about returns

Marketplace sellers. § 22f(1) sentence 2 UStG applies if all of the following are true:

• Your business has no residence, habitual abode, registered office or place of management in Germany, in another EU member state or in an EEA state.
• You apply for tax registration (steuerliche Erfassung) in Germany. The authorised recipient is named with the application, not only once the tax office asks.
• The rule belongs to the German VAT rules on trading through electronic interfaces such as online marketplaces (§ 22f(1) sentence 1 and § 25e(1) and (5) UStG). For sellers from EU and EEA states it does not apply.

Other businesses from outside the EU and the EEA. The general rule in § 123 of the German Fiscal Code (Abgabenordnung, AO) applies to anyone with no residence, habitual abode, registered office or place of management in Germany, in another EU member state or in an EEA state. Such a business has to name an authorised recipient in Germany only if a tax authority asks for one and sets a reasonable period; without that request, the obligation under § 123 AO does not arise.

If the tax office has asked and no authorised recipient has been named, a document posted to the business counts as received one month after posting, and an electronically transmitted document on the fourth day after it was sent – unless it is established that it did not arrive or arrived later (§ 123 sentences 2 and 3 AO).

According to the administrative guidance on the VAT Act (Umsatzsteuer-Anwendungserlass, UStAE, section 22f.2, version of 31 December 2022), the authorised recipient under § 22f UStG does not have to be authorised to provide assistance in tax matters, so it does not have to be a tax adviser (Steuerberater).

Do you still need a tax adviser?

Naming an authorised recipient settles who receives the letters. It does not settle who prepares your VAT returns or answers the tax office.

In Germany, assistance in tax matters as a business, including advice, is reserved for the persons and firms named in the Tax Advisory Act (Steuerberatungsgesetz, StBerG). Which arrangement fits your business is a question for such an adviser.

How to name an authorised recipient

1. 01Choose the recipient. The law asks for an authorised recipient in Germany (im Inland). It is the recipient who has to be in Germany, not your business.
2. 02Name it to the tax office. Marketplace sellers do this together with the application for tax registration; other businesses when the tax office asks.
3. 03Make sure it is on record. According to the guidance notes of the North Rhine-Westphalian tax administration on VAT registration for businesses not resident in Germany (version 08.21), the tax office takes an authorised recipient into account only if it has been notified of that recipient – by form, or through the power-of-attorney database (Vollmachtsdatenbank) in which tax advisers record authorisations.

How PortoDoc fits in

PortoDoc gives you a delivery address for letter post in Ahrensburg near Hamburg. As a foreign business, you can name PortoDoc to German tax authorities as your authorised recipient: under § 22f(1) sentence 2 UStG with your application for registration as a marketplace seller from outside the EU and the EEA, or under § 123 AO when the tax office asks for one and sets a reasonable period.

PortoDoc takes the authorised-recipient role only. It only receives documents and makes them available in your account: it makes no declarations, files no VAT returns, lodges no objections or appeals, monitors no deadlines and gives no legal or tax advice. Checking your account regularly and keeping track of deadlines stays with you.

Incoming letters are opened, digitised and made available in your customer account, and you get a notification. Every plan includes AI-assisted translation into German and English, and depending on your plan PortoDoc also offers AI-assisted summaries; these are non-binding aids.

How to get started

1. 01Register with PortoDoc and accept the terms; this concludes the contract.
2. 02Give PortoDoc a separate, hand-signed power of attorney for the authorised-recipient role; for a company, a person authorised to represent it signs. The service starts once PortoDoc has received it and activated it in your account.
3. 03Name PortoDoc to your tax office yourself, using the template PortoDoc provides.

The Starter plan costs €19.95 per month with 10 letters included and covers naming PortoDoc to one authority; Business (€49.95) and Enterprise (€79.95) cover any number of authorities. For businesses based outside Germany, these are net prices without German VAT if the service is not taxable in Germany; outside the EU, this requires proof that you are a business. With monthly payment, the contract runs until further notice and can be cancelled at the end of each billing month.

Plans and prices for online sellers, in English: German VAT number for Amazon sellers

Common questions