How Long Does German VAT Registration Take for a Foreign Company?

The typical timeline: 4–8 weeks

From the day a complete application reaches the responsible tax office, a foreign company typically receives its German tax number within 4–8 weeks. German law does not set a deadline within which the tax office has to process a registration, so the actual time depends on the workload of the individual office and on how many questions it has to ask.

The preparation on your side comes on top: collecting the documents – above all the certificate of tax residence from your home tax authority – often takes longer than expected. Start with the documents, not with the form.

The registration step by step

1. Determine the responsible tax office. Foreign companies without a permanent establishment in Germany cannot choose their tax office. Germany assigns one central tax office to each country of residence – for example Finanzamt Kleve for the Netherlands, Finanzamt Hannover-Nord for the United Kingdom, Finanzamt Bonn-Innenstadt for the United States.
2. Complete the questionnaire for tax registration. The registration is made with the official questionnaire for tax registration (Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung) in the version for foreign companies. It asks for the company data, the legal representatives and shareholders, the activity in Germany, the start date, the expected turnover and the bank account. The German VAT ID is requested in the same form.
3. Attach the documents. See the list below. Incomplete attachments are the most common reason for delays.
4. The tax office reviews the application. It checks whether the company actually carries out taxable transactions in Germany and whether the data is consistent. Queries are sent by letter and must be answered before the process continues.
5. The tax number (Steuernummer) is issued. The tax office sends it by letter. From this point VAT returns can be filed.
6. The VAT ID (USt-IdNr.) follows separately. It is issued by the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt), not by the tax office, and arrives in a separate letter. See VAT ID vs. Steuernummer for the difference between the two numbers.

Documents the tax office typically asks for

• Certificate of tax residence (Ansässigkeitsbescheinigung) issued by your home tax authority, confirming that the company is registered there as a business.
• Commercial register extract from your national register.
• Articles of association or partnership agreement.
• ID document of each managing director (passport or national ID card).

Depending on the tax office and on your business, further documents can be required:

• a certified translation of the articles of association, if they are not in German or English,
• a confirmation of residence of the managing director,
• proof of the business bank account,
• for online sellers: the fulfilment contract (for example the Amazon FBA agreement) and, where applicable, warehouse contracts.

What slows a registration down

• The certificate of tax residence is missing. In some countries the home tax authority needs several weeks to issue it. Request it first.
• Documents are not in German or English and have to be translated.
• The data does not match. Company name, address or directors in the form differ from the register extract.
• The activity in Germany is described vaguely. The tax office must be able to see which taxable transactions take place in Germany and from when.
• Queries from the tax office remain unanswered. The file rests until the answer arrives.
• The application went to the wrong tax office and has to be forwarded.

What speeds it up

There is no official fast-track procedure. What works in practice is a complete application sent to the correct tax office, documents in German or English, a precise description of the German activity, and answering queries immediately. A representative in Germany who receives the tax office's letters and follows up by phone avoids weeks of postal delay.

Register before the activity starts

German VAT does not wait for the tax number. VAT on taxable sales in Germany is owed from the first transaction, whether or not the registration has been completed; once the tax number is issued, VAT returns have to be filed for all periods since the start of the activity. The registration should therefore be filed before the German activity begins – for online sellers: before the first goods are stored in a German warehouse.

How German-VAT.com handles the registration

German-VAT.com is the digital platform of MajTax Steuerberatungsgesellschaft mbH. We determine the responsible tax office, prepare the questionnaire and the cover letter, check your documents for completeness before filing, receive the tax office's letters on your behalf and follow up proactively – for a one-time fee of €300 (net). The process is fully digital and in English; no German address is required.