DRAFT: Germany would extend the marketplace deemed-supplier fiction to Schwellenerwerber
This change is proposed and is not law. The rules below describe what would change if it is adopted.
This page records one dated change. For the rules in Germany as they stand today, see the Germany guide →
- Jurisdiction
- Germany
- Tax
- VAT
- Change type
- Registration
- Status
- Proposed
- Impact
- Watch
- Announced
- 12 August 2026
- Effective
- 1 January 2027
- Instrument
- DE-JSTG-2026-RE
- Authority
- Bundesministerium der Finanzen
- Systems
- E-commerce, Tax engine, Invoicing
- Verified
- Fetched from official source · high confidence
Operators of electronic interfaces (marketplaces) facilitating supplies into Germany, and Schwellenerwerber — certain taxable persons and legal entities subject to Germany's special intra-Community acquisition rules. If enacted as drafted, marketplaces would become the deemed supplier on sales to these buyers as well as to non-taxable persons, from 1 January 2027.
No action — monitoring only. This is a government draft, not law. If enacted as drafted, marketplaces would be deemed suppliers on sales to Schwellenerwerber as well as to non-taxable persons, from 1 January 2027.
E-commerceTax engineInvoicing
The same government draft of the Jahressteuergesetz 2026, approved by the Federal Cabinet on 12 August 2026, would amend section 3(3a) of the Umsatzsteuergesetz to extend the electronic-interface deemed-supplier fiction, which currently applies only to supplies made to non-taxable persons, to supplies made to Schwellenerwerber — certain taxable persons and legal entities subject to the special intra-Community acquisition rules — transposing the amended Article 14a of the EU VAT Directive. Under Article 32(5) of the draft this provision would enter into force on 1 January 2027. The bill has been introduced and is not enacted.
What changed in detail
This is a government draft bill, not enacted law. The same Cabinet-approved government draft of the Jahressteuergesetz 2026, approved 12 August 2026, would amend section 3(3a) of the Umsatzsteuergesetz. Today the electronic-interface deemed-supplier fiction — under which a marketplace operator is treated as having received and re-supplied goods sold through its platform — applies only to supplies made to non-taxable persons. The draft would extend it to supplies made to Schwellenerwerber: certain taxable persons and legal entities subject to Germany’s special rules for intra-Community acquisitions. This transposes the amended Article 14a of the EU VAT Directive. Under Article 32(5) of the draft, the change would enter into force on 1 January 2027. The bill has been introduced and is not enacted.
What it means
If this passes as drafted, a marketplace’s deemed-supplier obligations would no longer turn only on whether the buyer is a private consumer. A Schwellenerwerber sits in a grey zone today — a taxable-ish buyer that is not a full VAT-registered business for these purposes — and extending the fiction to that category closes a gap marketplaces could otherwise use to treat such sales as outside their deemed-supplier scope. Platforms selling into Germany should map which of their business buyers qualify as Schwellenerwerber well before 1 January 2027, since that classification, not just sales volume, would determine who is liable.
Proof
Eine Änderung mit Wirkung zum 1. Januar 2027 bezieht daher auch alle Lieferungen an sog. Schwellenerwerber in die Lieferkettenfiktion ein.A change with effect from 1 January 2027 therefore also brings all supplies to so-called Schwellenerwerber within the deemed-supply-chain fiction.
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