Germany compliance calendar

6 recurring VAT obligations — returns, payments and listings — each with its due rule and official source, plus the dates new Germany rules take effect.

Bundeszentralamt für Steuern (BZSt) ELSTER — electronic filing portal Add to your calendar

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Return filing Report / listing Payment

Statutory due dates — weekend and public-holiday shifts are not modelled. Confirm against the linked official source before relying on a date.

Recurring obligations, with sources

Each deadline cites the official text that states it and the date we last verified it.

Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldung — monthly advance VAT return and payment

VAT · Monthly · return filing

10th of the month after the month ends Verified 2026-08-13

Who files: Businesses whose prior-year VAT exceeded €9,000 (threshold raised from €7,500 for periods from 1 January 2025), plus refund-position businesses opting in under §18(2a) UStG. The advance payment is due the same day (§18(1) UStG).
Notes: A permanent one-month extension (Dauerfristverlängerung, UStDV §46) is available on application, conditional for monthly filers on a special advance payment of 1/11 of the prior year's advance payments. Shelf companies (Vorratsgesellschaften) and shell takeovers (Firmenmantel) file monthly regardless of the thresholds (§18(2) sentence 5).
Source: UStG §18(1)–(2a) — Voranmeldungen und Vorauszahlungen (consolidated statute) gesetze-im-internet.de (Federal Ministry of Justice)

Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldung — quarterly advance VAT return and payment

VAT · Quarterly · return filing

10th of the month after the quarter ends Verified 2026-08-13

Who files: The default scheme: businesses whose prior-year VAT was €9,000 or less. At €2,000 or less (raised from €1,000 for 2025) the Finanzamt may waive advance returns entirely, leaving only the annual return.
Notes: The Dauerfristverlängerung one-month extension is also available to quarterly filers, without a special advance payment. Through taxable period 2026, new businesses are assessed on annualised or expected tax rather than filing monthly by default (§18(2) final sentence); the automatic monthly rule for founders resumes in 2027 absent new legislation.
Source: UStG §18(2) — Voranmeldungszeitraum (consolidated statute) gesetze-im-internet.de (Federal Ministry of Justice)

Sondervorauszahlung — 1/11 special advance payment for the filing extension

VAT · Annually · payment

10th February each year Verified 2026-08-13

Who files: Monthly filers using the Dauerfristverlängerung: 1/11 of the prior year's advance payments, due by the statutory date of the year's first advance return (10 February) even though the January return itself files a month later under the extension; credited back in the December period. Quarterly filers owe none.
Notes: First-time applicants declare and pay it with the extension application, due by the deadline of the first advance return it should cover (UStDV §48(1)).
Source: UStDV §47 — Sondervorauszahlung (1/11); due date and crediting in §48 gesetze-im-internet.de (Federal Ministry of Justice)

Umsatzsteuererklärung — annual VAT return

VAT · Annually · return filing

31st July each year Verified 2026-08-13

Who files: All VAT-registered businesses except §19 Kleinunternehmer (since 2025). Due 31 July of the following year when self-prepared (AO §149(2)); the COVID-era extensions have expired, so tax year 2025 is due 31 July 2026.
Notes: Tax-advisor-prepared returns are due the last day of February of the second following year (AO §149(3) Nr. 4) — for tax year 2025, end of February 2027, weekend-shifted. Any balance owed is payable one month after the return reaches the Finanzamt (UStG §18(4)).
Source: AO §149(2)–(3) — Abgabefristen für Steuererklärungen; UStG §18(3) gesetze-im-internet.de (Federal Ministry of Justice)

Zusammenfassende Meldung (EC Sales List) — monthly

VAT · Monthly · report / listing

25th of the month after the month ends Verified 2026-08-13

Who files: Businesses whose intra-Community supplies of goods (including §25b(2) triangular supplies) exceed €50,000 in the current or any of the four preceding calendar quarters. Cross-border B2B services under §3a(2) are included in the quarter's final month, unless the filer opts to report them monthly (§18a(3)).
Notes: Filed with the BZSt, not the local Finanzamt; purely informational, no payment attaches. The Dauerfristverlängerung does not extend ZM deadlines (BZSt). An incorrect ZM must be corrected within one month (§18a(10)).
Source: UStG §18a(1) — Zusammenfassende Meldung: monatlicher Meldezeitraum gesetze-im-internet.de (Federal Ministry of Justice)

Zusammenfassende Meldung (EC Sales List) — quarterly

VAT · Quarterly · report / listing

25th of the month after the quarter ends Verified 2026-08-13

Who files: Goods suppliers at or under €50,000 per quarter (current and four preceding quarters), and businesses supplying cross-border B2B services under §3a(2) UStG taxed in the customer's member state.
Notes: Crossing €50,000 mid-quarter triggers a ZM for that month and the elapsed months, due the 25th after the breach month. Businesses released from advance returns may file the ZM annually by 25 January, subject to the €200,000 / €15,000 tests (§18a(9)).
Source: UStG §18a(1)–(3) — Zusammenfassende Meldung: vierteljährlicher Meldezeitraum gesetze-im-internet.de (Federal Ministry of Justice)

Kleinunternehmer under §19 UStG (prior-year turnover ≤ €25,000 and current-year ≤ €100,000) file neither advance returns nor an annual VAT return since 2025. Germany's B2B e-invoicing mandate fixes no periodic submission deadline, so it has no calendar row. Direct-tax and payroll deadlines are out of scope. A statutory deadline falling on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday shifts to the next working day (AO §108(3)) — the calendar shows the unshifted statutory date.

What this calendar does not list

Not applicable E-invoicing / e-reporting cycle — Germany's B2B e-invoicing mandate governs how invoices are issued and received (receive-capability since 1 January 2025, issuance obligations phasing in from 2027). It fixes no periodic submission deadline to the tax authority, so there is no filing cycle to place on a calendar.
Not yet covered Registration deadline — AO §138 requires notifying the Finanzamt within one month of starting a business activity, and the Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung follows. Not yet researched to page grade — no official source fetched — so it is recorded as a known gap rather than stated.

About this calendar

Which Germany tax deadlines does this calendar cover?

6 recurring indirect-tax obligations — VAT returns, payments and related filings — each with the due-date rule, who must file, and the official source that states the deadline. Direct-tax, payroll and company-registry deadlines are out of scope.

How current are these due dates?

Every obligation carries the date it was last verified against its official source (newest: 2026-08-13). Law-change dates come from the weekly Last Week in Taxes scan and link to their full change records.

Do the dates account for weekends and public holidays?

No — the calendar shows the statutory due date. Where the authority shifts deadlines falling on non-working days, the obligation notes say so. Confirm against the linked official source before relying on a date.

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🇩🇪 Germany compliance calendar