Digital products follow EU-wide place-of-supply rules — where VAT is due depends on your customer’s location, not just where your business is based.
Last updated: June 2026
If you’re a German-based business selling ebooks, software, apps, or online courses to German consumers, standard VAT rules apply: once you’re no longer a Kleinunternehmer, you charge 19% VAT on those sales like any other taxable supply.
If you sell digital products to consumers in other EU member states, you generally must charge VAT at the rate of the customer’s country, not the German rate, from your first cross-border sale — there’s no threshold exemption for this specific rule once you’re registered for standard VAT (though a small EU-wide cross-border threshold of €10,000 combined applies before this becomes mandatory for very small sellers).
Rather than registering for VAT separately in every EU country, most German sellers use the EU’s OSS (One Stop Shop) scheme — register once, charge the correct local VAT rate per customer country, and file one consolidated OSS return.
If your customer is a VAT-registered business in another EU country, the sale is usually outside German VAT scope, with the business customer accounting for VAT themselves under the reverse charge mechanism (Reverse-Charge-Verfahren). Verify their VAT-ID via the EU’s VIES system before treating a sale this way.
Yes, OSS is a separate registration, though many businesses need both once selling digital products across the EU and exceeding the relevant thresholds.
The standard VAT rate of the consumer’s own country — not the German 19% rate. Your OSS return breaks sales down by country and rate.
The interaction between Kleinunternehmer status and the EU cross-border digital services threshold has specific rules — check current guidance, as Kleinunternehmer businesses have particular treatment under the EU’s SME scheme.
Often yes for larger marketplaces, which may act as deemed supplier under EU platform rules. Check your specific platform’s terms.
No — that’s exactly what OSS avoids. One OSS registration covers reporting for all EU consumer sales.
Enter your revenue and get a plain-English answer in seconds.
Check my VAT status →