Reverse charge on goods: why the transaction has another name

An invalid VAT number surfaces after the order, not before, so the wording on your invoice is not a formality — it is the tax re-charged to you later. You can have the invoice without German VAT; not with the wrong mechanism on it.

Universalfilter mit weißem Kunststoffgehäuse, transparentem Sammelbehälter mit sichtbarem zylindrischen Filterelement, Edelstahl-Haltewinkel mit zwei Befestigungslanglöchern und zwei Steckverschraubungen mit Beschriftung GAS-IN und GAS-OUT

The request we get daily

One popular name, two mechanisms that share nothing but an outcome

Reverse charge in the technical sense moves the tax liability from the supplier to the recipient. That is § 13b of the German VAT Act, Articles 44 and 196 of the VAT Directive, and it applies to services: a consultancy, a licence, a repair performed abroad.

A cross-border sale of goods inside the EU works differently. The supply is exempt at our end (§ 4 no. 1 lit. b with § 6a, Art. 138 of the Directive), and at your end a separate taxable event arises — the intra-Community acquisition. Nothing is shifted.

For you the result looks identical, which is why the difference stays invisible until an audit asks for evidence. It is visible on the document itself: a goods invoice needs a reference to the exemption (§ 14(4) no. 8), not the phrase about the recipient being liable.

Same amount, a different reference printed on it
Different evidence behind it, and the evidence is what an audit asks for
Prices here are net throughout

Four transactions

Which rule applies to which delivery

Four cases, four different documents. Only the third one is reverse charge in the legal sense.

Zero per cent German VAT is the outcome in three of these four rows, and the reasons are entirely different. That is why the wording on the document matters more than the amount.
Transaction	Provision	On the invoice	Who owes the tax
Goods to an EU business using a valid VAT ID	§ 4 no. 1 lit. b with § 6a VAT Act, Art. 138 VAT Directive	A reference to the exemption for an intra-Community supply	Nobody at our end; the customer declares an intra-Community acquisition
Goods to an EU business that does not use a VAT ID	No exemption — ordinary domestic supply	German VAT shown at the statutory rate	The supplier
A service to an EU business	§ 13b VAT Act, Art. 44 and 196 VAT Directive	"Reverse charge" — the recipient is liable for the tax	The recipient
Goods to a country outside the EU	§ 4 no. 1 lit. a with § 6 VAT Act	A reference to the exempt export	Nobody at our end; import charges arise in the destination country

Weißer zylindrischer PTFE-Filtereinsatz, stehend fotografiert

Stricter since 2020

A missing number is no longer something you sort out afterwards

Until the Quick Fixes, the customer’s VAT identification number and the recapitulative statement counted as formalities. Directive (EU) 2018/1910, applicable from 1 January 2020, turned both into substantive conditions — § 6a(1) no. 4 for the number, § 4 no. 1 lit. b with § 18a for the statement.

Miss either and the exemption is gone, even where the customer is demonstrably a business and the goods demonstrably crossed the border. One asymmetry is worth knowing: the directive contains an escape clause for a supplier who can justify the failure. The German wording does not reproduce it.

A related misconception concerns customers who simply give no number. "No VAT ID, therefore distance selling" is wrong — § 3c covers non-taxable persons and certain threshold acquirers only.

A registered EU business withholding its number stays a domestic supply
Since we sell to businesses exclusively, the distance-selling rules do not arise here at all
Correcting a number before you order is far simpler than correcting an invoice afterwards

All of it, not most of it

What has to be true for the supply to be exempt

Since 2020 the third and fifth items are substantive conditions rather than formalities, which is why the list is worth reading to the end.

The customer is a business acquiring the goods for their business
The goods physically arrive in another member state
The customer uses a valid VAT identification number issued by another member state
The acquisition is subject to acquisition tax in the customer’s country
The supply is correctly declared in the recapitulative statement
Proof of arrival is on file — a confirmation of receipt or an equivalent document under the VAT implementing rules
The accounting records document the transaction, the customer and the route

What we check today, stated plainly

shukchok is an open marketplace for industrial goods — the VAT identification number in your company profile is validated for format and country prefix. It is not matched against the European VIES database, and no automated confirmation stands behind it. Until a number is confirmed, VAT is charged — the safe direction for both sides, because tax collected in excess can be refunded and tax not collected cannot.

Our interface uses the familiar term reverse charge for this situation, because that is what buyers search for. Clause 7.2 of our terms states the mechanism correctly as an intra-Community supply and reserves the right to charge VAT afterwards if a number turns out to be invalid. If you need certainty beforehand, obtain the confirmation on your side.

From EU business customers

Five questions before the first cross-border order

Can I get an invoice without VAT as a business in the EU?

Yes, where the conditions for an exempt intra-Community supply are met — you use a valid VAT identification number from another member state, the goods arrive there, and the supply is declared in our recapitulative statement. Until your number is confirmed, VAT is charged.

Is that what "reverse charge" means?

Colloquially yes, legally no. Reverse charge shifts the tax liability to the recipient and applies to services. For goods the supply is exempt at our end and a separate intra-Community acquisition arises at yours. The outcome on the invoice is the same amount; the reference printed on it, and the evidence behind it, are different.

What happens if my VAT ID cannot be confirmed?

Then the exemption does not apply and German VAT is charged. If a number turns out to be invalid after the fact, clause 7.2 of our terms allows us to charge the tax subsequently. Correcting a number before you order is considerably simpler than correcting an invoice afterwards.

What proof do you need that the goods arrived?

A confirmation of arrival from you, or an equivalent document such as a carrier’s consignment note or a tracking record. This is not bureaucracy for its own sake: without it the exemption fails, and the tax is then owed by us.

What applies to a delivery to Switzerland or the United Kingdom?

A different exemption. Those are exports to a third country, exempt under § 4 no. 1 lit. a with § 6 of the VAT Act and evidenced through the customs export record rather than a confirmation of arrival. Import charges arise in the destination country; for deliveries across a customs border they are collected during checkout under clause 8.3 of our terms.

The neighbouring questions

Where to read on, and what to put in the basket

Two steps

Enter the number first, then fill the basket

The VAT identification number belongs in the company profile, where it travels with the order onto the invoice. Once it is there, the price you saw without signing in is the price you compare against your own budget.

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