Germany Einvoice

Germany E-Invoicing -- XRechnung / ZUGFeRD Skill v1.0

General reference only. This skill is general tax/accounting reference material for AI-assisted workflows. It has not been reviewed for any specific person's facts, documents, elections, deadlines, residency, filing status, or local procedures. Do not rely on it to file, pay, amend, or take a tax position without review by a qualified professional in the relevant jurisdiction.

Section 1 -- Quick Reference

Section 2 -- Mandate Scope

Who Must Comply

Transitional Rules (2025--2027)

Timeline Summary

Section 3 -- Technical Format

Accepted Formats

XRechnung Technical Details

ZUGFeRD Profiles

For B2G compliance, use the XRechnung or Comfort profile. For B2B mandate compliance, any EN 16931-conformant profile is accepted.

Section 4 -- Mandatory Fields

EN 16931 Core Fields (Required by XRechnung)

XRechnung-Specific Additional Requirements

Section 5 -- Transmission Method

B2G Transmission

The ZRE (Zentrale Rechnungseingangsplattform) was decommissioned in September 2025. All federal submissions now go through OZG-RE.

B2B Transmission

Germany does not prescribe a specific transmission channel for B2B e-invoices. Accepted methods include:

Peppol in Germany

• KoSIT manages the German Peppol Authority
• Public authorities connected to OZG-RE are reachable via Peppol
• Peppol participant IDs for federal authorities use scheme 0204 (Leitweg-ID based)
• For B2B, scheme 9930 (DE VAT number) is commonly used

Section 6 -- Validation Rules

KoSIT Validator

The official open-source validation tool provided by KoSIT performs multi-layer validation:

Common Rejection Reasons

OZG-RE Additional Checks

• Validates Leitweg-ID against the registered directory
• Verifies that the recipient authority is connected and active
• Returns structured error messages for rejected invoices

Section 7 -- Tax Computation Rules

VAT Rates (2025/2026)

Rounding

• Line-level: net amount = quantity × unit price, rounded to 2 decimal places
• Tax amount per line: net amount × rate, rounded to 2 decimal places
• Document-level totals must equal sum of line-level amounts within each tax category
• XRechnung validation allows EUR 0.01 tolerance per tax subtotal group
• Banker's rounding (round half to even) is accepted but not required

Multi-Rate Invoice Handling

• Each VAT rate requires a separate tax subtotal group (BG-23)
• Tax category codes: S (standard), AA (reduced), Z (zero-rated), E (exempt), AE (reverse charge), K (intra-EU), G (export), O (outside scope)
• For reverse charge (§13b UStG), use category code AE with rate = 0%
• Tax exemption reason (BT-120/BT-121) must be populated for zero-rate and exempt categories

§14 UStG Invoice Requirements

German VAT law (§14 UStG) mandates specific content that must appear in the structured data:

• Full name and address of seller and buyer
• Tax number (Steuernummer) or VAT ID (USt-IdNr.)
• Invoice date and sequential invoice number
• Quantity and description of goods/services
• Delivery/service date or period
• Net amount per rate, applicable tax rate, and tax amount
• Total gross amount

Section 8 -- Archiving Requirements

Section 9 -- Penalties for Non-Compliance

Section 10 -- Interaction with Tax Skills

VAT Return Integration

• E-invoices provide the data basis for the monthly/quarterly Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldung (advance VAT return) via ELSTER
• Properly archived e-invoices serve as documentary evidence for input VAT deduction claims
• Non-compliant invoices (missing mandatory fields) may result in denied input VAT deduction until corrected
• The BMF has indicated plans for future pre-filled VAT returns based on e-invoice data, aligned with the EU ViDA initiative

Income Tax Integration

• For Einzelunternehmer (sole proprietors) and Freiberufler (freelancers), e-invoice revenue data feeds into the Einkommensteuer return (Anlage S or Anlage G)
• EÜR (Einnahmenüberschussrechnung -- cash-basis accounting) practitioners must ensure e-invoice dates align with payment dates for revenue recognition
• Bilanzierung (accrual accounting) practitioners recognise revenue at invoice date

Intra-EU Reporting

• Intra-EU supplies reported via Zusammenfassende Meldung (recapitulative statement) must reconcile with e-invoices issued with tax category K (intra-community supply)
• Buyer VAT IDs on e-invoices (BT-48) must match VIES-validated numbers

GoBD and Tax Audit

• Tax auditors may request Z1 (direct system access), Z2 (data export in GDPdU/IDEA format), or Z3 (data carrier) access to archived e-invoices
• Verfahrensdokumentation must describe the e-invoice workflow from receipt to archiving
• Failure to produce compliant archives during Betriebsprüfung can trigger estimated assessments with penalty surcharges (Zuschläge)

Disclaimer

This skill and its outputs are provided for informational and computational purposes only and do not constitute tax, legal, or financial advice. Open Accountants and its contributors accept no liability for any errors, omissions, or outcomes arising from the use of this skill. All outputs must be reviewed and signed off by a qualified professional (such as a Steuerberater, Wirtschaftsprüfer, or equivalent licensed practitioner in your jurisdiction) before filing or acting upon.

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Source: OpenAccountants — open tax Guides for AI, reviewed by named CPAs/CAs/EAs. Quality: source-cited draft. For always-current figures and named-accountant backing, connect the OpenAccountants MCP server (openaccountants-mcp).