Feature

OSS export for EU distance sales and digital services

Q: Which deadlines apply to the OSS return?

The OSS return is filed quarterly, within one month after the end of the quarter, and the tax is due on the last day of that following month. This applies to goods and electronic services alike (§ 18j Abs. 4 UStG, § 16 Abs. 1d UStG). Rechnungskit keeps W6 distance sales in the quarterly report apart from S4 services in the monthly report; for the quarterly return you need both.

Q: Where do I file the OSS return?

Through the BZSt online portal (BOP). In Germany the EU scheme runs through the Federal Central Tax Office (Bundeszentralamt für Steuern), not through your local tax office.

Q: What applies below the 10,000 euro threshold?

If the combined total of relevant distance sales and electronic B2C services stays below the threshold in the previous year and the current year, the German tax rate generally applies (§ 3c Abs. 4 Satz 1 UStG). A voluntary opt-out binds you for at least two calendar years (§ 3c Abs. 4 Satz 3 UStG) and, in the view of the tax authorities, applies from the start of the calendar year (section 3a.9a para. 1 UStAE).

Q: Which exchange rate applies to foreign currencies?

The OSS return is filed in euros. By law, foreign-currency sales are converted at the ECB rate of the last day of the reporting period (§ 16 Abs. 6 Satz 4 UStG); monthly average rates or the payment provider's rate are not allowed for OSS. Rechnungskit applies exactly this quarterly rate to the OSS return automatically and documents it in the locked return, regardless of the rate on the individual invoice. On the invoice itself the euro tax amount is calculated by default with the ECB daily rate on the invoice date (or with the BMF previous-month rate once your tax office has granted permission; for the VAT return the daily rate needs permission too) and shown in structured form in the e-invoice. Details under Foreign currencies.

For the 10,000 euro threshold, intra-community distance sales and certain electronic B2C services are counted together across the EU. Rechnungskit adds both types of sales up, taxes the sale that crosses the threshold in the destination country already, and keeps goods and digital services in separate report files.

Why it matters

If you sell to consumers in other EU countries, you have to keep an eye on the EU-wide threshold, for goods and electronic services together. Without OSS you would have to register in every destination country and maintain all their tax rates yourself. If you add up the types of sales by hand and watch quarterly and monthly deadlines in parallel, a sale with the wrong rate easily slips through.

What the OSS return is

The One-Stop-Shop (OSS) is a simplification in EU VAT law. Instead of registering in every EU country, you report your cross-border sales to consumers centrally through a single office. The legal basis of the EU scheme is § 18j UStG; in Germany the procedure runs through the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt).

What matters is the threshold of 10,000 euros net. It applies EU-wide and combines all your intra-community distance sales and certain electronic services to consumers (§ 3c Abs. 4 UStG, § 3a Abs. 5 UStG). For pure SaaS and software subscription businesses, E-invoicing for SaaS covers the digital case in detail.

If you stay below it, you charge the German tax rate. If you exceed it, the sale that crosses the threshold is already taxable in the destination country (section 3a.9a para. 1 sentence 1 no. 1 sentence 3 UStAE, for goods via section 3c.1 para. 1). The previous year's sales are part of the check as well. The procedure covers B2C. Pure business-to-business sales run through intra-community supplies or reverse charge, not through this OSS path. You report those EU B2B sales in the EC Sales List (Zusammenfassende Meldung).

How it works in Rechnungskit

Check the threshold. Rechnungskit counts EU-wide B2C distance sales and certain electronic services together. The previous year counts too, and the sale that crosses 10,000 euros is already taxed in the destination country. If you switch during the year, you enter your prior sales from the old system so the count is right from the start.
Register. You sign up once for the EU scheme in the BZSt online portal. If you register by the 10th day of the month after the first affected supply, the procedure applies from the day of that supply (section 18j.1 para. 1 sentence 7 UStAE). Rechnungskit reminds you of exactly this deadline when you cross the threshold.
Record the sales. Rechnungskit applies the tax rate of the destination country, documents the VAT matrix case and prepares W6 sales of goods and S4 services separately.
File on time. W6 distance sales appear in the quarterly report. S4 services get a separate monthly report. Both are reported in the quarterly OSS return, due within one month after the end of the quarter; the tax is due on the last day of that month (§ 18j Abs. 4 UStG).

OSS export · Flow

From an EU consumer order to the quarterly return

Your EU consumers

Distance sales of goodsreport type W6

Electronic servicesreport type S4, for example software or online courses

Rechnungskit

Count the shared threshold10,000 euros net per year, goods and services together, including the previous year and prior sales from your old system
Below itGerman VAT rate
Above itVAT rate of the destination country, already for the sale that crosses it

Filing with the BZSt

Quarterly reportW6 by country and rate, as a CSV for the BZSt online portal

Monthly reportS4 separately, filed in the same quarterly return

BZSt (Federal Central Tax Office)

The OSS return is due within one month after the end of the quarter, and the tax is due on the last day of that month (§ 18j Abs. 4 UStG). You file it yourself; Rechnungskit provides the data.

What Rechnungskit takes over and what stays with you

You file the return with the BZSt yourself. Rechnungskit supplies the data for it. The shared threshold is monitored continuously, the VAT matrix case stays documented on the invoice line, and the sales are prepared by country, tax rate and type of supply.

Without this preparation you would have to register for VAT in every EU country or maintain the tax rates of every destination country yourself. Adding goods and electronic services up toward the shared threshold and watching quarterly and monthly deadlines in parallel goes away as well.

If you switch to Rechnungskit during the year, you enter your earlier distance sales and digital B2C services as prior sales; they then count toward the threshold right away. The underlying OSS records are kept for ten years, as § 22 Abs. 1 UStG requires.

Every payment also produces a compliant e-invoice under EN 16931, archived GoBD-compliant and tamper-proof. That way e-invoice, tax rate and return match from the start.

In detail

Joint monitoring of the EU-wide 10,000 euro threshold for distance sales and electronic B2C services, with a warning from 80 percent
The sale that crosses the threshold already moves to taxation in the destination country
Prior sales from your old system count toward the threshold right away when you switch during the year
W6 distance sales in the quarterly report, S4 services separately in the monthly report, each by country and tax rate, as a CSV for import in the BZSt online portal; both belong in the OSS return for the same quarter
The correct VAT rate of the destination country per sale; we maintain the tax rates per product category and country
Voluntary opt-out of the threshold only from the start of the year and with a two-year commitment
Ten-year retention of the underlying OSS records
Foreign-currency sales are converted at the ECB rate of the last day of the quarter and documented in the locked return

Legal basis

§ 18j UStG (Besonderes Besteuerungsverfahren für Fernverkäufe und Leistungen): Special taxation procedure for distance sales and services, the legal basis of the EU scheme in the OSS: registration with the BZSt (Federal Central Tax Office), tax return within one month after the end of each quarter, payment by the last day of the following month (para. 4).
§ 3c UStG (Ort der Lieferung beim innergemeinschaftlichen Fernverkauf): Place of supply for intra-community distance sales. Sets the 10,000 euro threshold and the destination principle for distance sales; opting out of the threshold binds you for at least two calendar years (para. 4).
§ 3a UStG (Ort der sonstigen Leistung): Place of supply of services. Electronically supplied services to consumers are taxed where the customer is and count toward the same threshold.
§ 16 UStG (Steuerberechnung, Abs. 6 Umrechnung): Tax calculation. Para. 1d: the taxation period in the OSS is the calendar quarter. Para. 6 sentence 4: the OSS return uses the ECB rate of the last day of the reporting period.
§ 22 UStG (Aufzeichnungspflichten): Record-keeping duties. Records of OSS sales must be kept for ten years.
Abschnitte 3a.9a, 3c.1 und 18j.1 UStAE: Sections of the VAT application decree. The sale that crosses the threshold is already taxed in the destination country; an opt-out applies from the start of the calendar year; registering by the 10th of the following month takes effect from the first supply.

Frequently asked questions

Who has to file an OSS return?

Anyone taking part in the OSS procedure. It pays off for businesses that sell goods or certain services across borders to consumers in other EU countries and exceed the EU-wide threshold of 10,000 euros (§ 3c Abs. 4 UStG). Taking part is voluntary; without it you have to register in every destination country (§ 18j Abs. 1 UStG). Pure B2B sales are not covered.

Which deadlines apply to the OSS return?

Where do I file the OSS return?

What applies below the 10,000 euro threshold?

Which exchange rate applies to foreign currencies?