VAT in Germany in 2026

Consultoria EHERO

5 minutos de lectura

In Germany, VAT —Umsatzsteuer, or Mehrwertsteuer in everyday language— has a standard rate of 19 % and a reduced rate of 7 %. There is no super-reduced rate or intermediate rate, and there is a 0 % rate for one very specific case. These are set by § 12 of the Umsatzsteuergesetz.

Type	Percentage	Applies to
Standard (Regelsteuersatz)	19 %	Everything that is not expressly included in the exception lists
Reduced (ermäßigter Steuersatz)	7 %	Food, books and press (including digital), public passenger transport, short-term accommodation, theatre, concert and museum tickets, dental technicians’ services, and from 2026 food served in restaurants
Zero (Nullsteuersatz)	0 %	Photovoltaic modules and their installation in homes and public buildings up to 30 kW

Rates verified on 8 September 2026 against § 12 of the Umsatzsteuergesetz, consolidated official text (gesetze-im-internet.de).

What changes in 2026

The big change this year is in hospitality: food served in restaurants moves to 7 %. Drinks do not; they remain at 19 %.

If you invoice hospitality services, that means separating the lines on the same receipt. A meal and a beer at the same table carry different rates, and a POS system that applies a single rate per receipt will report incorrectly from day one.

Which VAT you charge customers in Germany if you sell from another EU country

This is the part no rate table covers, and usually the real question. The rate you charge does not depend only on the destination: it depends on how much you sell to consumers in other EU countries.

Below €10,000 a year in distance sales to the rest of the EU — added up across all countries, not country by country — you charge your own country’s VAT.
Above that €10,000 you charge the destination VAT: 19% as the standard rate in Germany, or the reduced rate that applies to the product. You declare it through the One Stop Shop (OSS) in your own country, with no need to register in the destination country.

The threshold adds up all your B2C sales to other EU countries plus digital services, and the switch does not wait for next year: the very sale that crosses the threshold already carries the destination rate.

Selling to a business with a valid EU VAT number is a different story: the sale goes without VAT because the customer accounts for it in their own country, but you have to check that number in VIES and keep proof of the check.

How to set this up in WooCommerce

WooCommerce includes tax rates by country, but it does not distinguish rates within a country by product class or monitor the threshold for you. There are three things you need to set up:

A tax class for each rate you use, assigned product by product and not at store level.
VAT ID validation at checkout against VIES for business customers, so VAT is not charged when the transaction is under reverse charge.
A control for the €10,000 threshold, because the day it is exceeded the rates change at once across all countries.

All three are covered by EHERO Woo VAT, which we built precisely because these are the three points where stores selling to the rest of the European Union break down.

Two quick checks: check the customer’s VAT number in VIES before invoicing without VAT, and use the EU VAT calculator to see which rate to charge on each sale.

Selling to other EU countries from WooCommerce?

EHERO Woo VAT applies each country’s rate product by product, checks VAT numbers against VIES at checkout and keeps an eye on the €10,000 threshold for you.

See EHERO Woo VAT →

Frequently asked questions

What is the standard VAT rate in Germany in 2026?

19 %. It is the default rate applied to any supply of goods or services that is not expressly included in the list of exceptions.

Did German VAT go down in 2026?

Generally, no. The only thing that went down is food served in restaurants, which moved from 19 % to 7 %. Drinks remain at 19 %.

I sell to Germany from another EU country — which VAT do I charge?

Your own country’s VAT while your distance sales to the whole EU stay below €10,000 a year. Once you cross that threshold, the destination VAT (19% standard rate), declared through the One Stop Shop.

Do I have to register for VAT in Germany?

Not if you only ship from your own country: that is what the One Stop Shop is for. You do if you store goods there — for example with Amazon’s fulfilment network — because stock held in the country creates a registration obligation regardless of how much you sell.