Reverse charge on German freelance invoices

Last reviewed: October 2026

When reverse charge applies

Common freelancer case: you supply a B2B service to a business in another EU country and the supply falls under recipient VAT liability rules. You often invoice net — the customer accounts for VAT locally.

You usually need valid VAT IDs on both sides and the correct service classification. Domestic German B2B with German MwSt is different. This is orientation only — confirm edge cases with a tax advisor.

What to put on the invoice

• Standard required fields (invoice checklist)
• Your VAT ID and the customer’s VAT ID
• Net amounts without German MwSt lines
• Clear wording such as “Steuerschuldnerschaft des Leistungsempfängers” / “Reverse charge”

On e-invoices (ZUGFeRD/XRechnung) the tax category in the XML must match — wrong codes are a frequent rejection reason.

Common mistakes

• Showing 19% MwSt when reverse charge applies (or the reverse)
• Missing or vague reverse-charge note
• Missing / wrong customer VAT ID
• Applying reverse-charge logic to private (B2C) customers

UStVA and other filings

Reverse-charge turnover belongs in the correct box of the UStVA. EU supplies may also trigger additional reporting (e.g. recapitulative statement) — your tax setup / advisor owns that.

Effitrio helps you keep customer and tax settings consistent on invoices; filing with the tax office remains a tax process.