VAT for Creators in Germany 2026: Platforms and Reverse Charge

Payouts from foreign platforms such as YouTube, Twitch, TikTok, Patreon or OnlyFans are usually not subject to German VAT: under § 3 Abs. 11a UStG the platform is your customer, and your service is supplied where the platform company is based (§ 3a Abs. 2 UStG). For the same reason these payouts do not count towards the €25,000 small business limit. Brand deals with German companies, on the other hand, carry 19% VAT, and on ads or software bought from abroad you often owe the VAT yourself (§ 13b UStG).

The core rule: the platform is your customer

For VAT, it does not matter who pays. What matters is to whom you supply your service. For services provided through a platform, portal or app, German law assumes a chain:

1. You, the creator, supply your service to the platform.

2. The platform supplies the service to the fan, subscriber or viewer.

§ 3 Abs. 11a UStG only breaks this chain if you are expressly named as the provider in the contracts and invoices. It stays in place whenever the platform sets the general terms, approves the service or authorises the charge to the fan. That is the normal setup on the big creator platforms. The Court of Justice of the EU confirmed the underlying EU rule for OnlyFans on 28 February 2023 (C-695/20, Fenix International).

Two things follow. First, the platform owes VAT on what fans pay – for fans in Germany, 19%. Second, you supply a business. Under § 3a Abs. 2 UStG, a service to a business is supplied where the business is based. If the platform company is abroad, your sale is not taxable in Germany at all. "Not taxable" (nicht steuerbar) is different from "exempt" (steuerfrei): the transaction falls outside German VAT law.

Pure payment services such as PayPal do not count as platforms in this sense (§ 3 Abs. 11a UStG, last sentence). If a fan sends you money directly through PayPal, you supply the fan directly.

VAT rules and values for 2026

For businesses that start in 2026, the expected VAT for the current year decides whether returns are monthly or quarterly (§ 18 Abs. 2 UStG). The tax office tells you which applies.

Boxes in the 2026 VAT return

The ELSTER form for the VAT prepayment return is in German. These are the boxes (Kennzahlen) creators use most, according to the official form USt 1 A 2026:

Where each type of income lands

Which company is your contracting partner is shown in the terms of service, the platform's tax settings or the payout statement. Platforms change their structures, so check each year. Platform details: YouTube, Twitch, Patreon and OnlyFans.

Step by step: your VAT duties

1. Identify the contracting party: For each income source, note the name and country of the paying company. A payment service such as PayPal is not your customer.

2. Check your small business status: Add up only taxable domestic sales. If they were at most €25,000 last year and stay at most €100,000 this year, your domestic sales are exempt. In your first year the €25,000 limit applies to the current year. Details: small business regulation explained.

3. Get a VAT ID: The USt-IdNr. is issued by the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt). Tick it in the tax registration questionnaire or apply online later with your Steuernummer. It is sent by post only. You need it for services to EU businesses and so that foreign suppliers invoice you without their VAT.

4. Invoice correctly: To German brands with 19% VAT, or as a small business with a note on the exemption. To EU businesses without VAT, with both VAT IDs and the note "Steuerschuldnerschaft des Leistungsempfängers" (reverse charge). To businesses outside the EU without VAT; a note such as "not taxable in Germany" is useful.

5. File returns: Regular VAT payers report all sales in the boxes above. EU sales also go into the EC Sales List to the BZSt.

Reverse charge on what you buy

The opposite direction is easy to overlook. When you buy services as a business from a company abroad, the place of supply is with you in Germany (§ 3a Abs. 2 UStG). Then you, not the supplier, owe the German VAT (§ 13b Abs. 1, Abs. 2 Nr. 1 and Abs. 5 UStG). Typical cases: Google or Meta ads, software subscriptions, music licences, editors or management companies abroad.

Regular VAT payers deduct the same amount as input VAT in the same return. Net, they pay nothing, but they must report it. Small businesses also owe the tax, as they are businesses too, but they cannot deduct it. They must file prepayment returns for the affected periods and an annual VAT return (§ 18 Abs. 4a UStG). How this works for ad accounts is shown in VAT on Google Ads (in German).

Worked example: small business or not?

Example: a creator in Cologne had total turnover of €20,000 in 2025. In 2026 he earns the following and buys ads for €2,400 net from a company in Ireland.

He remains a small business in 2026: last year's turnover of €20,000 was below €25,000, and this year's relevant turnover stays below €100,000. For 2027, only the €22,000 counts, so he stays below €25,000 again. On the Irish ads he still owes 19% VAT under § 13b UStG – €456.00 – without input VAT deduction. For him it is an extra cost.

For comparison, his VAT for 2026 if he had opted out of the small business regulation:

The brands pay the €3,420.00 on top and reclaim it as input VAT. The €638.66 from tips, however, comes out of the creator's pocket if fans do not give more. Whether switching pays off depends on the share of private customers and on planned investments.

Special cases

• Merch: Selling goods is a supply of goods, not a service. For sales to private customers in other EU countries, their VAT rates apply above €10,000 a year, usually via the One-Stop-Shop. More in merch and OSS for creators (in German).

• Own courses and downloads: If you sell digital products on your own website, you supply the fans directly. For fans in other EU countries, their VAT applies once the €10,000 threshold in § 3a Abs. 5 UStG is exceeded.

• Barter deals: Products instead of money are a barter-like transaction (§ 3 Abs. 12 UStG). The taxable amount is the value of the products.

• Affiliate commissions: The location of the affiliate programme counts, not the shop where the fan buys.

• Donations: Whether voluntary payments are taxable consideration has not yet been decided by the Federal Fiscal Court; a case is pending (V R 10/25). The Düsseldorf tax court treated a streamer's donations as subject to VAT (judgment of 4 March 2022, 1 K 2812/19 U).

• E-invoicing: Since 1 January 2025 every business in Germany must be able to receive e-invoices. Small businesses never have to issue them. Platforms abroad are not affected.

Common mistakes

• Charging 19% on platform payouts: A service to a foreign platform is not taxable in Germany. Treating it as a domestic sale means paying VAT that is not owed.

• Showing VAT on invoices to platforms: VAT shown on an invoice is owed even if it was wrong (§ 14c UStG).

• Counting all income towards the small business limit: This often leads to an unnecessary switch to regular VAT – with a five-year commitment after opting out.

• Confusing the two reverse charge directions: When you supply an Irish platform, the platform owes Irish VAT. When you buy from abroad, you owe German VAT.

• Forgetting the EC Sales List: It is needed only for customers in other EU countries, and not for small businesses.

• Not declaring ads as a small business: The § 13b VAT on Google or Meta ads also applies to small businesses.

• Mixing up VAT ID and tax number: Foreign suppliers need the USt-IdNr. starting with DE, not the Steuernummer.

The overall picture with income tax and trade tax is in taxes for content creators in Germany.