{"id":824,"date":"2020-06-26T15:20:40","date_gmt":"2020-06-26T13:20:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/interstellar.accountable.de\/?p=824"},"modified":"2023-04-27T10:55:15","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T08:55:15","slug":"how-does-vat-work-for-clients-outside-germany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interstellar.accountable.de\/en\/blog\/how-does-vat-work-for-clients-outside-germany\/","title":{"rendered":"How does VAT work for clients outside Germany?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here is how to get your invoices for clients in the EU, and further afield, in tip-top shape!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An invoice for an international client needs to include all the things you would see on a German invoice:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Name and address of both yourself and your client<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A unique invoice number<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The date the invoice is delivered<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your Steuernummer and VAT number (Umsatzsteuernummer in German)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The VAT number of your client \u2013 use <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/taxation_customs\/vies\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">this handy tool from the European Commission<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to confirm a client\u2019s VAT number<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A description of the work completed<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The price per unit and the total amount charged<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your bank details, for easy transfer<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And don\u2019t forget your signature!<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u26a0\ufe0f\u00a0 \u00a0Invoices for clients outside Germany differ from those issued inside Germany when it comes to VAT.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Should I charge VAT to clients in the EU?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Short answer: No. Here\u2019s why:<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The reverse charge procedure<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">VAT is charged for goods and services throughout the EU. But when your client is based in a different EU member state, something called the \u201creverse charge procedure\u201d applies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Think about it this way: VAT, or value-added tax, is added to goods and services throughout the production process and passed on and on until it hits the end user.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It doesn\u2019t make sense for you to charge VAT to a client in France, for example, because then their VAT would land in Germany\u2019s coffers, despite it being a deductible business cost for them in France.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For this reason, freelancers should not charge their clients outside Germany any VAT.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Make sure to include a reference to the reverse charge procedure on your invoice, eg. \u201cThe reverse charge procedure applies to this invoice, so no VAT is charged.\u201d Now you have met the legal requirements for a freelance invoice for an EU client outside Germany.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\ud83d\udca1 <\/span><b>Tip<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Accountable offers automatic invoice generation and can even add the relevant VAT references when you need them. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/interstellar.accountable.de\/download\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Try it out for yourself<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Invoicing clients outside the EU<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is no need to charge tax on any invoices you issue to clients outside Germany, including those outside the EU.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And invoicing non-EU clients is even easier, as you don\u2019t need to reference the reverse charge procedure.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Simply include the elements listed above and you\u2019re good to go.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And there you have it, a simple, stress-free answer to one of the most common German tax questions!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here is how to get your invoices for clients in the EU, and further afield, in tip-top shape! An invoice for an international client needs to include all the things you would see on a German invoice: Name and address of both yourself and your client A unique invoice number The date the invoice is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":900,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,181],"tags":[323],"class_list":["post-824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-important-things-to-know","category-vat","tag-vat"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How does VAT work for clients outside Germany? | Accountable<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How does VAT work for clients outside Germany? | Accountable\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here is how to get your invoices for clients in the EU, and further afield, in tip-top shape! 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