Advance VAT return in Germany: deadlines, thresholds, monthly or quarterly

The advance VAT return is due by the 10th day after the period ends, and last year's VAT decides how often you file. Up to 2,000 euros the tax office may release you entirely, between 2,000 and 9,000 euros you file quarterly, above 9,000 euros monthly. Small businesses under section 19 of the German VAT Act (UStG) file no advance return at all. If you need more room, apply for the permanent deadline extension and gain one month.

If the 10th falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, the deadline moves to the next working day – section 108(3) of the German Fiscal Code (AO). That is why the next quarterly date is not the 10th but Monday, 12 October 2026.

This article provides general information and does not replace tax advice.

Contents

1. Do you have to file at all?
2. Monthly, quarterly or not at all: the two thresholds
3. Every date up to February 2027
4. Permanent deadline extension: one extra month, prepaid if you file monthly
5. New businesses: what applies in 2026 – and what changes in 2027
6. What happens if you are late?
7. How the return is transmitted
8. Frequently asked questions
9. Getting the figures out of your own bookkeeping

Do you have to file at all?

The advance VAT return is an interim settlement with the tax office. You report the VAT from your outgoing invoices, deduct the input VAT from your incoming invoices and transfer the difference. At the end of the year everything is pulled together in the annual VAT return and offset against the prepayments you have made.

Three groups are outside this system:

• Small businesses under section 19 UStG. Since 2025, section 19(1) sentence 2 UStG explicitly excludes the filing duties of section 18(1) to (4). If you stay below 25,000 euros in the previous year and 100,000 euros in the current one, you file no advance return. The details are in the article on the small business rule and its pitfalls.
• Anyone released by the tax office. More on that below.
• Anyone not carrying out a business activity.

Two exceptions still apply: if you owe VAT as the recipient of a service under section 13b UStG, or if you make an intra-Community supply of a new vehicle, you must file even as a small business (section 18(4a) UStG). When you as the customer owe the tax is explained in the article on section 13b UStG for construction work.

If you are based abroad and sell into Germany, one point matters most: a German VAT registration brings the filing duty with it. The thresholds below then apply to you exactly as they do to a German business. If you ever capture every receipt with its tax rate, the figure for the return is ready at the end of the quarter instead of sitting in a pile of paper. That is what the accounting side of Easy Invoice is built for: record expenses with category and tax rate, evaluate by period, hand the DATEV export to your tax adviser.

Monthly, quarterly or not at all: the two thresholds

What counts is the tax for the previous calendar year – your payment burden, not your turnover. Payment burden means VAT collected minus deductible input VAT.

These amounts have applied since 2025. Before that they were 1,000 and 7,500 euros – which is why older guides still quote the old figures.

Two points are regularly overlooked:

The release is not automatic. Section 18(2) sentence 3 UStG says the tax office may release you. It is a decision of the office, not a right you simply claim. Until you have written confirmation, keep filing quarterly.

With a large input VAT surplus you may switch to monthly filing voluntarily. If the previous year produced a surplus in your favour of more than 9,000 euros, you can choose the month instead of the quarter (section 18(2a) UStG). This pays off if you invest heavily and regularly get money back: you then wait at most one month for your refund instead of three. You make the choice by 10 February by filing the first monthly return, and it binds you for the whole year.

Every date up to February 2027

Filing and payment fall on the same day: the 10th day after the period ends (section 18(1) UStG). Weekend shifts are already applied in this table.

Quarterly:

Monthly:

Public holidays can move a date further if the 10th falls on a statutory holiday in the federal state of your tax office. That is not the case for any of the dates above.

Permanent deadline extension: one extra month, prepaid if you file monthly

On application the tax office extends the deadline for filing and payment by one month. Section 46 of the VAT Implementing Ordinance (UStDV) words this as an obligation: the office has to extend. It may refuse only if the tax claim appears at risk – for instance where substantial arrears exist.

The difference between the two groups is the price:

The special prepayment is a deposit, not an extra tax: you pay one eleventh of the previous year's prepayments in advance and get the amount credited back with the December return (sections 47 and 48(4) UStDV). Anything left over is refunded or offset.

An example: in 2026 you prepaid 22,000 euros of VAT in total. For 2027 you declare a special prepayment of 2,000 euros in February and transfer it. In return you have an extra month for every return throughout the year. In January 2028 you settle the 2,000 euros against the December return.

If you miss the application, you can file it for the next period. The extension then applies from that period onwards, not retroactively.

New businesses: what applies in 2026 – and what changes in 2027

For new businesses, section 18(2) sentence 4 UStG actually prescribes monthly filing in the year of registration and the year after. That duty is suspended for a limited time. The law reads: "for the assessment periods 2021 to 2026". During those years the following applies instead:

• In the year you start, the expected tax for the current year determines the cycle. You estimate this figure in the tax registration questionnaire; how to complete it is covered in the article on registering a business and the tax questionnaire.
• In the following year, the actual tax of the start-up year is projected onto a full year.
• A release from filing is ruled out in the start-up year and the year after, even if you stay below 2,000 euros. That is set out in the Federal Ministry of Finance letter of 16 December 2020. So new businesses cannot file less often than quarterly.

The point for anyone planning to start in 2027: by its wording, the suspension ends with the 2026 assessment period. If it is not extended, businesses started from 2027 onwards will again have to file monthly in their first two years – no matter how small they are. As at 7 September 2026, no extension is contained in the VAT Act. Whether the legislator will act is open. If you can choose your start date and want to keep paperwork low, keep an eye on this.

What happens if you are late?

Three consequences, each of which can occur independently:

Two details are worth remembering.

For payment there is a three-day grace period: up to three days of delay carry no late payment penalty (section 240(3) AO). It applies only to transfers and direct debits, not to cash or cheque. For filing the return there is no such grace period.

For the late filing penalty, the fixed minimum amounts familiar from annual returns do not apply here: for returns filed monthly or quarterly, the scale in section 152(5) AO is expressly excluded (section 152(8) no. 1 AO). The tax office decides at its discretion – often not at all for a single excusable delay, and noticeably for repeated ones.

An estimate is the most unpleasant outcome: experience shows it will not be in your favour, and the tax becomes due regardless. A later return does replace the estimate, but the late filing penalty stays.

How the return is transmitted

Transmission is electronic and authenticated, as a rule through ELSTER, the tax administration's online portal. A paper form exists only where the tax office waives electronic filing on application to avoid undue hardship – for example where the technical equipment is missing (section 18(1) sentence 2 UStG). Downloading a PDF and posting it is not an alternative, it is the exception.

For access you need an ELSTER user account and your tax number. How to obtain both is described in the article on getting a tax number through ELSTER.

What you should have to hand before filling in the form: all outgoing invoices for the period separated by tax rate, all incoming invoices with input VAT shown, plus any cases where the recipient owes the tax. If your firm of advisers prepares the return, the quality of your groundwork decides the fee – which is where the article on preparatory bookkeeping comes in.

You do not have to add these sums by hand if your documents are already in a program. In Easy Invoice you open the tax evaluation under Accounting, select USTVA as the type, month or quarter as the period type, plus year and period. You get the values that belong in the return and enter them in ELSTER. The program does not do the transmission for you – there is no ELSTER interface.

Frequently asked questions

Which deadline applies to quarterly filing? The 10th day after the quarter ends: 10 April, 10 July, 10 October and 10 January, each moved to the next working day if the 10th falls on a weekend or holiday. With the permanent extension, one month later in each case.

Can I get the permanent extension as a quarterly filer? Yes, and without a special prepayment. Only monthly filers pay that. Apply by the day the first return covered by the extension is due.

Does the deadline move if a tax adviser prepares the return? No. The extended deadlines for adviser cases apply to returns covering a calendar year, that is, the annual return. For advance returns the 10th day stands – the permanent extension is the only route to more time.

Can I file just once a year? There is no annual advance return. What exists is release from filing where the previous year's tax was up to 2,000 euros. Only the annual VAT return then remains, and the tax office decides on it.

What do I enter if I had no turnover in a quarter? You file a return with zeros. The duty does not lapse because nothing happened. Filing nothing risks an estimate.

Where do I find the 2026 form? In the ELSTER portal as an online form. A paper form only comes into play under an approved hardship arrangement.

Getting the figures out of your own bookkeeping

The tedious part of the return is not the form, it is collecting the amounts. That is what the tax evaluation in office1.cloud is for: you record invoices and expenses with their tax rate as you go, and the evaluation adds up the period.

Besides the advance VAT return, the same evaluation produces the figures for the annual VAT return, the cash-basis profit calculation (EÜR), the permanent deadline extension and the EC Sales List – the filings a small business meets over the course of a year.

What the program does not do: send anything to ELSTER. You read off the values and enter them there, or your tax adviser takes them from the DATEV export. Try Easy Invoice for free.

Sources

• Section 18 German VAT Act – taxation procedure
• Section 19 German VAT Act – small business taxation
• Section 46 UStDV – deadline extension
• Section 47 UStDV – special prepayment
• Section 48 UStDV – procedure
• Section 108 German Fiscal Code – periods and deadlines
• Section 152 German Fiscal Code – late filing penalty
• Section 240 German Fiscal Code – late payment penalties
• ELSTER – advance VAT return An accounting software keeps receipts, revenue and reports in one place.