Check the VAT rate on shipping

The task "Check shipping VAT rate" (Versandkosten-Steuersatz prüfen) is a note about your shop configuration. The invoices concerned have been created, nothing is held back.

What happened

An invoice had line items with different VAT rates, for example coffee at 7 % and accessories at 19 %. Your shop still taxed the shipping costs entirely at one of these rates.

Because "Take the tax from the shop" is set under Document rules, Rechnungskit took this over as it was. The task counts how many documents are affected and names the latest one: "Your shop charges the shipping costs entirely at … %, although the invoice mixes line items at … %." There is only ever one open task of this kind per project.

Why Rechnungskit stops here

For VAT purposes, shipping costs are an ancillary service and take the rate of the goods, because an ancillary service shares the fate of the main service (section 3.10 (5) UStAE). With mixed rates they have to be split. The task cites section 10.1 (11) UStAE for this.

The setting splits by gross goods value, because the Federal Fiscal Court (BFH) bases a split by individual selling prices on gross selling prices (BFH, judgment of 22 January 2025, XI R 22/22).

Rechnungskit deliberately took over your shop's setting, because that is how you configured it. It does tell you, though, that it is probably not right. This is not tax advice. If in doubt, ask your tax advisor.

How to resolve it

1. On the dashboard, click "Configure shipping tax" on the task. Under Invoices in the "To review" tab the task is called "Review task", and "Open" takes you to the same place. You land under Connections → Document rules in the "Shipping tax" section.
2. Choose "Apportion by goods value (default)". Rechnungskit then splits the flat shipping fee itself by gross goods value.
3. Alternatively, switch the shipping tax in your shop to proportional by cart. Once the shop calculates proportionally, Rechnungskit takes over the split automatically.
4. Documents already issued stay unchanged. They are archived, and the switch only applies to new documents. Whether anything needs doing for the old ones, you clear up with your tax advisor.

The stored task text still mentions "recalculate" under Connections. It means the option "Apportion by goods value (default)" under Connections → Document rules.

When the task closes on its own

When you save "Apportion by goods value (default)", the task closes at once.

If you change the shop instead, it closes as soon as a new document with shipping costs and without this deviation is created from a payment. Orders with a manual payment method such as purchase on account, bank transfer or prepayment get their document without a payment, so it does not happen there. In that case, mark the task as done in the "To review" tab with "Mark as done".

Related settings

• Connections → Document rules → Shipping tax: "Apportion by goods value (default)" or "Take the tax from the shop"
• Applies to shop connections (Shopify, WooCommerce, Shopware). Rechnungskit Checkout and the API always split shipping by gross goods value.