Foreign currencies with correct euro conversion

Invoice in a foreign currency, VAT in euros

If your shop sells in US dollars, Swiss francs or another currency, the invoice may be issued in that currency: net amount, tax rate, tax amount and total are in the original currency. The VAT must also be stated in euros, though (Art. 230 of the EU VAT Directive), and for calculating the tax the values have to be converted into euros (§ 16 Abs. 6 UStG). Rechnungskit therefore shows the euro tax amount in addition, clearly marked as a conversion, without creating a second tax.

How the conversion works

1. Invoice in the foreign currency. If your shop sells in USD, CHF or another currency, Rechnungskit creates the invoice in exactly that currency, with net amount, tax rate and tax amount as § 14 Abs. 4 Satz 1 Nr. 7 und 8 UStG requires, and the total.
2. Convert the VAT into euros. Rechnungskit also converts the amount for VAT into euros. The default is the ECB reference rate on the invoice date. If your tax office has granted permission, Rechnungskit uses the BMF average rate of the previous month.
3. Freeze the rate. The rate used is frozen per document and stored with rate month and source. The conversion can then be traced from the archive alone, and a later correction uses the same rate.
4. Show and report. The euro tax amount appears on the invoice as a conversion and in structured form in the e-invoice (BT-6, BT-111). The euro values are then ready for the VAT return.

The applicable rate

For VAT the general rule is the average rate published monthly by the Federal Ministry of Finance for the month in which the supply is made or the payment is received (§ 16 Abs. 6 Satz 1 UStG). The tax office may allow a daily rate, to be proven by a bank statement or rate sheet (§ 16 Abs. 6 Satz 3 UStG). Because the average of a month is only known once the month is over, the tax authorities also provide a simplification: the tax office can allow you to use the previous month's average rate on a regular basis (section 16.4 para. 2 sentence 2 UStAE). That rate is always known when the invoice is issued.

What Rechnungskit takes care of

Rechnungskit issues the invoice in the original currency and also converts the VAT into euros. By default it uses the ECB reference rate on the invoice date. For VAT this daily rate also requires permission (§ 16 Abs. 6 Satz 3 UStG); which method applies to you is something to settle with your tax advisor. As soon as your tax office has granted permission for the BMF previous-month rate, you switch to it with one click in the settings, and from then on the official average rate of the previous month applies. The BMF monthly rates are fetched automatically and rounded to four decimal places, so the value matches the officially published rate.

The rate used is frozen per document and stored with rate month and source. The conversion can then be traced from the GoBD archive alone, and a later correction uses the same rate. The invoice also shows net amount, VAT and total in euros, with the rate, the rate month and the source. In the e-invoice under EN 16931 the euro tax amount appears in structured form (tax currency and tax amount in euros), so the invoice and the e-invoice show the same figures. The DATEV export books with the same rate.

Without this automation you convert foreign-currency amounts by hand, look up the right rate yourself, work out the euro tax amount separately for the VAT return and document every rate with date and source for a tax audit.

The OSS export uses its own statutory rate, the ECB rate of the last day of the reporting period (§ 16 Abs. 6 Satz 4 UStG). Rechnungskit applies this quarterly rate there automatically, regardless of the rate on the individual invoice. That way invoice, e-invoice and return match from the start. How the rates relate in detail is explained in Invoices in a foreign currency.