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Rechnungskit

Set a missing VAT rate for a category and destination country

Updated

The task "Set tax rate" (Steuersatz festlegen) appears on the dashboard as "Set tax rate: country · category", for example for food to Austria. It is not a stored task. Rechnungskit calculates it from your real orders every time you open the dashboard. The task reminder by email counts it too.

Set tax rate
Set one rate, and the waiting documents are created
  1. TriggerRate missing or shop deviatesorders of the last 180 days
  2. You click"Set rate"opens Settings → Tax rates
  3. You decide"Adopt … %" or enter your own rateif in doubt, with your tax advisor
  4. ThenWaiting documents are createdthe task disappears once matrix and shop agree
Rechnungskit never adopts your shop's rate on its own. It only shows it as a suggestion.

What happened

Rechnungskit looks at the orders of the last 180 days and checks which combinations of tax category and destination country your documents need. What counts is the country of the shipping address, otherwise the billing address. Two cases lead to the task:

Case Meaning What happens to documents
No rate in the matrix Your shop charges a rate, but your tax matrix has nothing for this combination. Documents to this country wait.
Deviation The matrix has a rate, your shop charges a different one. If the matrix rate comes from the EU database, documents wait. If you confirmed it yourself, documents carry your rate.

If the shop charges different rates for the same combination, Rechnungskit shows the one charged most recently.

Destination-country rates only count if you pay VAT in the destination country, meaning you are registered for OSS or have waived the delivery threshold.

Why Rechnungskit stops here

Without a fitting rate, Rechnungskit holds documents to this country instead of issuing them with a wrong VAT rate. Your shop's rate is not automatically right. That is why Rechnungskit only shows it to you as a suggestion and never adopts it on its own.

Ideally the task warns you before the next shipment to this country gets stuck.

How to resolve it

  1. On the dashboard, click "Set rate" on the task. You land under Settings → Tax rates at "Tax rates your orders need".
  2. "View example: …" on the task opens the order list, filtered to the newest order with this rate.
  3. Clear up which rate is right, if in doubt with your tax advisor.
  4. If your shop's rate is right, click "Adopt … %". Waiting documents are created afterwards.
  5. If it is not, enter the right rate in the matrix further down and correct the tax class in the shop.

When the task closes on its own

As soon as the matrix has a rate and your shop charges the same rate, the combination no longer shows up in the next calculation.

If you confirmed a deviating matrix rate yourself, documents carry it. The note stays visible until the shop is corrected, on the dashboard still with the label "Blocks invoicing". Under Settings → Tax rates it then reads "The matrix rate is confirmed; invoices carry it, the shop should be corrected."

Related settings

  • Settings → Tax rates: matrix of category × country
  • Products → All products: tax category per product
  • OSS export: your OSS status decides whether destination-country rates are needed

Where to find it in the app

Rechnungskit is not a tax advisory or law firm. This article explains general principles and does not replace advice from a tax advisor (Steuerberater, § 5 StBerG) or a lawyer (§ 3 RDG). Rechnungskit is built for businesses based in Germany and prepares documents, tax rates and bookings automatically. How your specific case is treated remains your decision, ideally together with your tax advisor or a lawyer.

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