New Silk Road Law

New German Law to Combat VAT Evasion in Ecommerce

Jörg Brettschneider

The Federal Republic of Germany passed a law to combat VAT fraud in international ecommerce. The new legislation is described and discussed. Ecommerce sellers will have to provide their tax registration and a certificate issued by the competent tax authority that shows their VAT compliance to platform operators. Otherwise platform operators are liable for VAT evasion of the respective ecommerce sellers. Without providing a tax registration and the certificate platform operators will not allow sellers to sell on their platforms anymore. The transition period will be much shorter for overseas sellers than for EU sellers. Practical problems will arise at the beginning likely. Suspension of accounts can be the consequence.