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VAT Calculator calculates the VAT amount as well as the price with and without VAT. The VAT % is pre-filled, but you can change it or clear the value. The results are rounded to your desired precision. You can also make a currency conversion.
You can also choose the VAT% by clicking the percentages in the tables below.
Germany | |
| standard rate | 19% Most goods and services unless a reduced rate, zero rate or exemption applies. Examples include clothing, electronic goods, fuel and most beverages. Drinks supplied as part of restaurant and catering services remain subject to the standard rate. |
| reduced rate | 7% Includes many foodstuffs; books, newspapers and periodicals and qualifying electronic publications; short-term accommodation; passenger transport by rail and certain local transport, taxi, ferry and cable-car services; admission to theatres, concerts and museums and certain cultural, circus, zoo and swimming-pool services. From 1 January 2025 it also applies to qualifying works of art and collectors’ items. From 1 January 2026 it also applies to food supplied as part of restaurant and catering services, but not beverages. Where the margin scheme is used, the margin is taxed at the standard rate. |
| zero rate | 0% Supplies of solar modules to the operator of a qualifying photovoltaic system, including essential components and electricity storage systems, and their installation. The system must be installed on or near private dwellings, other dwellings, or public and other buildings used for activities serving the public good. Where installed gross capacity does not exceed 30 kWp, the statutory conditions are generally deemed to be met. |
| exempt with deduction | Exports of goods outside the EU and intra-Community supplies to another EU Member State when the statutory conditions are met. Certain supplies relating to sea and air transport and certain cross-border transport services also qualify. Input VAT generally remains deductible for these transactions. |
| exempt without deduction | Includes qualifying medical treatment and hospital services, social services and certain education, financial and insurance transactions, and the letting of real estate and many property transactions, subject to statutory exceptions and, in some cases, an option for taxation. Input VAT attributable to these exempt transactions is generally not deductible. |
| out of scope | Work performed in an employment relationship is not an independent business activity. A transfer of an entire business or a separately operated business unit to another entrepreneur for that entrepreneur's business is also outside VAT. Activities carried out by public-law entities in the exercise of public authority may likewise fall outside their taxable business activities subject to the statutory conditions. |
| reverse charge | Under the reverse-charge mechanism, the customer accounts for VAT. It applies in particular to specified supplies by foreign businesses, construction services supplied to businesses that themselves sustainably provide construction services, and corresponding qualifying building-cleaning services. Other cases include certain waste and scrap, emission allowances, gold, and mobile phones, tablet computers, games consoles and specified integrated circuits where the statutory EUR 5,000 threshold per economic transaction is met. Additional conditions apply to gas, electricity and telecommunications. |
| margin scheme | The margin scheme under Section 25a UStG applies in particular to resellers of movable second-hand goods where the goods were acquired, for example, from a private individual or another business applying the margin scheme. VAT is calculated on the positive difference between the selling price and purchase price, and the standard 19% rate applies to the margin. Additional rules and options apply to works of art, collectors’ items and antiques. VAT must not be shown separately as deductible VAT on an invoice issued under the margin scheme. VAT Margin Scheme calculator |
| small business exemption | Businesses established in Germany qualify for the Section 19 small-business VAT exemption if total turnover did not exceed EUR 25,000 in the preceding calendar year and does not exceed EUR 100,000 in the current calendar year. In the year a business starts trading, the EUR 25,000 threshold applies. The transaction that causes the applicable threshold to be exceeded is already subject to normal VAT. Small businesses generally do not charge VAT and cannot deduct input VAT attributable to their exempt supplies. They may opt out of the scheme, normally with a minimum five-calendar-year commitment. Since 2025, businesses established in other EU Member States may also use the cross-border small-business scheme subject to additional conditions. |
| Past changes: | |
| 1 Jan 2026 | The VAT rate on food supplied as part of restaurant and catering services is permanently reduced from 19% to 7%. Drinks remain subject to 19%. German VAT Act, § 12 UStG |
| 1 Jan 2025 | The reduced 7% VAT rate is reintroduced for qualifying works of art and collectors’ items. Under the margin scheme, however, the margin remains subject to the standard 19% rate. German Federal Ministry of Finance (PDF) |
| 1 Apr 2024 | The temporary reduced VAT rate on natural gas supplied through the gas network and heat supplied through a heating network ends. The rate returns from 7% to 19%. German VAT Act, § 28(5)–(6) UStG |
| 1 Jan 2024 | The temporary reduced VAT rate on food supplied as part of restaurant and catering services ends. The rate returns from 7% to 19%; drinks were already subject to 19%. German Federal Ministry of Finance (PDF) |
| 1 Jan 2023 | A new 0% VAT rate is introduced for qualifying photovoltaic systems, including specified essential components, electricity storage systems and installation. German Federal Ministry of Finance |
Note! The VAT information on this page is general information, not tax advice. The information is not exhaustive. VAT rules include many exceptions and special cases. Check the treatment of your situation in the tax administration's guidelines. The information was checked on 22 Sep 2026.
VAT rounding: the EU, the UK and other European countries
The EU VAT Directive and the Court of Justice of the European Union leave VAT rounding rules to be decided at national level. National rules vary. In the UK, HMRC allows VAT on B2B invoices to be rounded down to the nearest whole penny.
Roundings in VAT calculation: Mathematically impossible prices?
There are a whole range of VAT-inclusive prices that cannot be mathematically arrived at if the tax is calculated from the VAT-free price. One example is 3.99. These prices are also possible, but then the VAT-free price must be interpreted as rounded.
VAT Gap - How much VAT is left uncollected in EU countries?
9.5% of VAT was left uncollected in EU countries. See the list of EU countries and candidate countries.
In Europe there is VAT - in the US sales tax
In Europe, companies belonging to the production chain account for the VAT paid by the consumer to the state in proportion to their value added. The US sales tax, on the other hand, is billed entirely by the company that made the consumer sale. Sales tax is paid to local operators, not to the state.
Many of today's taxes were already in use in Antiquity. Deciding on taxation has moved from autocrats to parliaments and the level of taxation has risen. In earlier times taxes were used to wage wars, today taxes are used to maintain welfare states.
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