eBay’s new announcement: Changes to German VAT compliance requirements

On March 12, eBay China’s official website issued an announcement on “Changes in German Value Added Tax (VAT) Compliance Requirements”, stating that the new German Value Added Tax (VAT) requirements will take effect from July 1, 2021.

Starting from July 1, 2021, sellers who are obliged to register for German VAT must register for a German VAT identification number (umsatzsteuer-Identifikationsnummer in German, abbreviated as USt-IdNr) and upload the number to their eBay account, which exempts sellers from the obligation to upload a German VAT registration certificate (Bescheinigung nach §22f UStG in German) in paper form. If the seller fails to provide a valid German VAT identification number and related information in the eBay account before July 1, 2021, eBay will take certain restrictive measures on the account.

Sellers need to pay attention to the following:

1. Check whether the company needs to register for VAT in Germany. If so, it needs to register with the relevant tax office and apply for a VAT identification number.

2. Upload your company's German VAT identification number to your eBay account via the link https://www.ebay.de/spr/vat.

3. Check the company information on the issuance document for the German VAT identification number issued by the German Federal Central Taxation Office ( Bundeszentralamts für Steuern, BZSt for short) and make sure that the information listed on the document (company name, address and VAT identification number) matches the information in the eBay account. eBay will verify this through the BZSt's electronic verification program.

If your company is affected by this regulation, you need to upload your company’s German VAT number and related information as soon as possible to avoid affecting your sales on eBay after the new regulation comes into effect.

In fact, since the e-commerce industry ushered in a wave of explosive growth in 2020, European countries have become increasingly stringent in their compliance requirements for e-commerce and the Internet industry. Not only in terms of law enforcement, but also in terms of legislation, the regulations have become more rigorous. If the compliance requirements of EU countries are not met, the platform will restrict or remove product listings, or even freeze accounts and face fines.

Previously, eBay China’s official website also released the "Notice on Changes to EU VAT Regulations in 2021" on March 10. Also on July 1, the VAT regulations for goods imported into the EU and some goods within the EU will change. Sellers also need to pay more attention to this information.

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