Umsatzsteuerschuld

Umsatzsteuerschuld is the amount of value-added tax (Umsatzsteuer) a business owes to the German tax authorities after offsetting the input tax (Vorsteuer) it has paid on purchases. In the German VAT system, Umsatzsteuer is collected on sales and services (the output tax), while businesses may deduct the VAT paid on goods and services used for taxable activities (the input tax). The net Umsatzsteuerschuld is calculated as the difference between the output tax and the input tax: Umsatzsteuerschuld = Umsatzsteuer aus Ausgangsrechnungen minus Vorsteuer aus Eingangsrechnungen.

If the result is positive, the business has a payable amount and must transfer that net tax to the tax office by the due date of the submission period. If the result is negative, the business has a Vorsteuerüberschuss and may receive a refund or carry the credit forward to future periods.

The tax is typically declared and paid through the Umsatzsteuervoranmeldung (UStVA), which is filed monthly or quarterly depending on the size of the business, with payments usually due by the 10th day of the following month (monthly filers) or the 10th day of the month following the quarter (quarterly filers). The annual VAT return (USt-Jahreserklärung) provides a final reconciliation.

Special rules can apply, such as the Kleinunternehmerregelung, where a business with very low turnover may be exempt from charging VAT and thus generally does not have an Umsatzsteuerschuld, though it cannot normally deduct input tax.