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The date of supply on German invoices: shipping date or payment date?

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Every German invoice must state the time of the supply of goods or services, as required by § 14(4) sentence 1 no. 6 UStG (the German VAT Act). The date of supply (Leistungsdatum) is not the invoice date and not automatically the payment date. It is the day the supply was actually made. Shipped goods count as supplied when shipping begins (section 13.1(2) UStAE), so on the day of shipping, not on the day of payment.

Why online shops systematically get this wrong

Most shop and invoicing systems create the invoice the moment payment comes in and use the payment date as the date of supply. For an order placed on Saturday and shipped on Monday, the invoice then shows the wrong date of supply. Usually nobody notices, until a tax audit (Betriebsprüfung) comes along or a business customer has to defend their input VAT deduction.

Example · Order on a weekend
Paid on Saturday, shipped on Monday: the date of supply is Monday
  1. Sat, Oct 10, 2026Order and paymentMany shops create the invoice at this moment
  2. Sun, Oct 11, 2026Weekend, no shipping
  3. Mon, Oct 12, 2026Goods shippedDate of supply
Payment date copiedWrong
Invoice dateOct 10, 2026
Date of supplyOct 10, 2026 day of payment
Shipping date setCorrect
Invoice dateOct 10, 2026
Date of supplyOct 12, 2026 day of shipping
Required detail under § 14(4) sentence 1 no. 6 UStG. Invoice date and date of supply are two different fields and may differ.

That is the real consequence: an invoice with a wrong or missing date of supply is formally defective (§ 14(4) sentence 1 no. 6 UStG, German). For the recipient it puts the input VAT deduction at risk, because that requires an invoice under §§ 14 and 14a UStG (§ 15(1) sentence 1 no. 1 sentence 2 UStG, German), and an audit will spot it.

The law itself offers a simple way out: instead of the exact day, you may state the calendar month in which the goods are delivered (§ 31(4) UStDV, German). If payment and shipping fall in the same month, "October 2026" is correct, while the payment date is not.

When payment date and date of supply may coincide

In some cases both dates genuinely are the same: immediate digital delivery (a download, a license key, access unlocked right away) and a sale with handover on the spot. Here the supply is made the moment the customer pays, so the payment date is the correct date of supply.

For anything that is shipped, that does not hold (section 13.1(2) UStAE, German). And for prepayments for future periods (annual subscriptions, maintenance contracts), the date of supply even lies in the future. An invoice for such a prepayment also states the day the money was received, if that day is known and differs from the invoice date (§ 14(4) sentence 1 no. 6 UStG, German). In the books, deferral accounting (Rechnungsabgrenzung) also applies.

Three cases in online retail
Which date goes on the invoice as the date of supply?
Delivered immediately
Download, license key, access unlocked right away, handover at purchase
Date of supplyPayment date
Shipped goods
Anything packed and shipped after payment
Date of supplyShipping date
Subscription and prepayment
Monthly subscription, annual subscription, maintenance contract: the supply runs over a period
Date of supplyPeriod
With prepayment, the service period lies in the future. How to spread the revenue over it is explained on the page on deferral accounting (Rechnungsabgrenzung).

This also answers a common question about the standard note in many invoice templates:

Quick check
Can an invoice say "date of supply equals invoice date"?
Supply and invoice on the same dayFor example a download available right after payment, with the invoice issued the same day. Applies to PDF and paper invoices; in an e-invoice the date goes in the structured field
Allowed
Invoice on payment day, shipping laterFor example payment on Saturday, shipping on Monday: the shipping date belongs on the invoice
Wrong
As fixed boilerplate on every invoice, the note is a risk, because it is only true when both days really coincide.

How Rechnungskit sets the date of supply

Rechnungskit links payment and order, so it knows the shipping status: shipped goods are invoiced with the shipping date, immediate digital supplies with the payment date, and service periods as a period. This happens automatically on every invoice and is checked before the invoice is sent. Creating e-invoices shows how the whole flow works.

FAQ

On a PDF or paper invoice, yes, if it is true (section 14.5(16) UStAE, German). It is only correct, though, if the supply and the invoice really fall on the same day, so as boilerplate on every invoice it is a risk. In an e-invoice the note is not enough: the date of supply must be in the structured data.
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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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