A German invoice — a Rechnung — is not just a request for payment. It is a tax document, and German law is unusually specific about what has to appear on it. If a mandatory field is missing, your client's accountant may reject it, because an incomplete invoice can cost them the right to reclaim the VAT they paid you.
That is the real reason German clients send invoices back. It is rarely about formatting or design. It is almost always about a field that section 14 of the German VAT Act (Umsatzsteuergesetz, UStG) says must be there.
This guide covers what belongs on a German invoice, the simplified rules for small amounts, how the small-business exemption changes things, and what the e-invoicing mandate means for you.
This is general information, not tax or legal advice. German VAT rules change, and your situation may have specifics this guide does not cover. Confirm anything that affects your business with the Bundeszentralamt für Steuern or a Steuerberater (tax adviser).
The nine mandatory fields on a German invoice
Section 14(4) UStG lists what a full invoice must contain. Miss one and the invoice is technically incomplete.
1. Your full name and address
The complete legal name and address of your business, as registered. Not a trading name on its own, and not a PO box.
2. Your client's full name and address
Same standard. For business clients, use the registered company name including its legal form — GmbH, UG (haftungsbeschränkt), AG, GbR. "Müller Design" is not sufficient if the entity is "Müller Design GmbH".
3. Your tax number or VAT ID
You need one of these:
- Steuernummer — your tax number, issued by your local tax office (Finanzamt). Format varies by state.
- Umsatzsteuer-Identifikationsnummer (USt-IdNr) — your VAT identification number, in the format
DEfollowed by nine digits.
For domestic German invoices either works. For cross-border sales inside the EU you need the USt-IdNr, and you need your client's too.
4. Date of issue
The Ausstellungsdatum — the date you wrote the invoice.
5. A sequential invoice number
The fortlaufende Rechnungsnummer must be unique and issued only once. German law does not require it to be a single unbroken run of integers — you can use prefixes, years, or separate series per client or branch — but within any series the numbers must not repeat and must not be reused.
What you cannot do is skip numbers arbitrarily or start over each month with 001. Auditors read gaps as missing invoices.
6. Quantity and description of what you supplied
The quantity and normal trade description of goods, or the extent and nature of the service. "Consulting" is too vague. "Website redesign: 12 hours of front-end development, October 2026" is the level of detail expected.
7. The date of supply
This is the field most often missed. The Leistungsdatum (service date) or Lieferdatum (delivery date) is when the work was performed or the goods were delivered — which is frequently not the invoice date.
You must state it even when it is the same as the invoice date. The standard wording for that case is "Leistungsdatum entspricht Rechnungsdatum" (service date corresponds to invoice date). Simply leaving it out because the dates match is a common and avoidable error.
8. Net amount, broken down by tax rate
The amount before VAT (Nettobetrag). If your invoice mixes items at different VAT rates, break the net total down per rate. Any discount or rebate agreed in advance must also be stated.
9. VAT rate and VAT amount — or the reason there is none
Germany applies:
- 19% — the standard rate (Regelsteuersatz)
- 7% — the reduced rate (ermäßigter Steuersatz), for things like books, most food, and public transport
Show the rate and the resulting VAT amount (Umsatzsteuer) separately from the net figure. If no VAT applies, you must say why — see the two cases below.
Small invoices: the €250 simplification
For invoices where the gross total does not exceed €250, section 33 of the VAT Implementation Regulation (UStDV) allows a shortened form. A Kleinbetragsrechnung needs only:
- your name and address
- the date of issue
- the quantity and description
- the gross amount
- the VAT rate applied, or a note explaining the exemption
You do not need the client's details, a sequential invoice number, or a separate net/VAT split. This is genuinely useful for low-value work, and it is the one case where a simpler invoice is not a riskier one.
If you are a Kleinunternehmer
The small-business rule in section 19 UStG lets you invoice without charging VAT at all. Since 1 January 2025 the thresholds are €25,000 in the previous calendar year and €100,000 in the current one. (They were €22,000 and €50,000 before that change, so older guides you find online will quote the wrong figures.)
If you use the exemption, two things follow:
- You must not show a VAT amount. Charging VAT you are not registered to collect creates a liability to pay it anyway.
- You must state why there is no VAT. The conventional wording is: "Gemäß § 19 UStG wird keine Umsatzsteuer berechnet." ("In accordance with § 19 UStG, no VAT is charged.")
An invoice with no VAT line and no explanation looks like an error. The sentence is what makes it correct.
Invoicing EU business clients: reverse charge
When you supply services to a VAT-registered business in another EU country, the place of supply generally shifts to the client's country. You do not charge German VAT — the client accounts for it themselves.
For this to work your invoice needs:
- your USt-IdNr
- your client's USt-IdNr
- an explicit reverse-charge note
The German wording is "Steuerschuldnerschaft des Leistungsempfängers". Adding the English "Reverse charge" alongside it is common and helps non-German clients understand the line.
Validate your client's VAT number before invoicing. The European Commission's VIES service does this for free, and checking takes seconds. If the number turns out to be invalid, the unpaid VAT can land back on you.
E-invoicing: what changed in 2025
Germany is phasing in mandatory structured electronic invoicing for domestic business-to-business transactions.
Since 1 January 2025, every German business must be able to receive an e-invoice. This part already applies to you — there is no turnover threshold and no transition period for receiving.
Issuing is being phased in:
- from 1 January 2027 for businesses with prior-year turnover above €800,000
- from 1 January 2028 for everyone else
The important distinction: a PDF is not an e-invoice under these rules. A compliant e-invoice is structured, machine-readable data conforming to the European standard EN 16931 — in practice XRechnung (pure XML) or ZUGFeRD from version 2.0.1 (a PDF with XML embedded inside it). A plain PDF is now classified as an "sonstige Rechnung" (other invoice) and may only be sent with the recipient's agreement.
For most freelancers and small businesses in 2026, PDF invoices to private customers and to consenting business clients remain fine. Plan for the 2027–2028 change rather than panicking about it now.
How long to keep German invoices
Invoices are accounting documents (Buchungsbelege) and must be archived — retrievable, unaltered, and readable for the full period. The retention period for accounting vouchers was shortened from ten years to eight years by legislation effective in 2025, though ten-year periods still apply to some other categories of business record.
Because this is exactly the kind of detail that changed recently and varies by document type, check your specific obligations with a Steuerberater rather than relying on a blanket number.
A quick checklist before you send
- Your full legal name and address
- Client's full legal name and address, including legal form
- Your Steuernummer or USt-IdNr
- Invoice date
- Unique sequential invoice number
- Clear description with quantities
- Service or delivery date — even if identical to the invoice date
- Net amount, split by VAT rate if rates are mixed
- VAT rate and amount, or the § 19 note, or the reverse-charge note
- Client's USt-IdNr, if this is a cross-border EU B2B supply
FAQ
Does a German invoice have to be written in German?
No. There is no legal requirement to invoice in German, and English invoices are widely used and accepted. However, the Finanzamt can ask for a translation during an audit, and some German accounting departments process German-language invoices faster. If you work regularly with German clients, a bilingual layout is a practical compromise.
Can I invoice a German client in a currency other than euros?
Yes. You may invoice in another currency, but the VAT amount has to be convertible to euros using an accepted exchange rate — typically the monthly rate published by the Federal Ministry of Finance or the ECB reference rate. Many businesses show the VAT figure in euros alongside the foreign-currency total to avoid ambiguity.
What happens if I forget the service date?
The invoice is incomplete, and your client may not be able to deduct the input VAT. The fix is straightforward: issue a corrected invoice (Rechnungskorrektur) with the missing field. You do not need to cancel and renumber the original — you reference it and correct it.
Do I need a Steuernummer and a USt-IdNr, or just one?
For purely domestic invoices, one is enough. You need a USt-IdNr specifically for intra-EU trade. You can request one free of charge from the Bundeszentralamt für Steuern, and it is worth having before your first EU client rather than after.
Is an invoice number required on every invoice?
On every full invoice, yes. The one exception is the Kleinbetragsrechnung for gross amounts up to €250, which does not require one. Even then, numbering everything is simpler than maintaining two systems.
Can I still send PDF invoices in 2026?
Yes, for now. The obligation that started in 2025 is to be able to receive structured e-invoices. The obligation to issue them begins in 2027 for larger businesses and 2028 for the rest. Until then, PDFs remain acceptable for B2B where the recipient agrees, and for private customers throughout.