# German invoice requirements: the 10 mandatory details

> Under § 14(4) of the German VAT Act, invoices over €250 must show both parties' full names and addresses, your tax number or VAT ID, the issue date, a unique sequential number, what you supplied and when, the net amount per VAT rate, and the VAT rate and amount. Some cases need extra notes.

- URL: https://billfree.de/en/mandatory-details/german-invoice-requirements/
- Language: en
- Updated: 2026-10-19
- Publisher: Billfree (OnlineBuilders LLC, https://onlinebuilders.biz)

Freelancers who move to Germany from the US are often surprised by how much an invoice has to say. US invoices are commercial documents with no fixed content. UK VAT invoices follow rules that look similar to Germany's. German rules live in § 14 of the VAT Act (Umsatzsteuergesetz, UStG), and they matter less for you than for your client. Your client can only deduct the VAT on your invoice if every required detail is there.

That shifts the pressure. Any German accounting department that spots a missing date will park your invoice and send it back, politely, with a request for correction. Your payment waits.

## The ten mandatory details

German law lists ten items. Eight apply to every standard invoice, two only in special cases.

| No. | What German law requires | German term you will see |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Full name and address of you and your client | Name und Anschrift |
| 2 | Your tax number or your VAT ID | Steuernummer / USt-IdNr. |
| 3 | Date of issue | Rechnungsdatum |
| 4 | A unique, sequential invoice number | Rechnungsnummer |
| 5 | Quantity and description of goods, or type and scope of services | Leistungsbeschreibung |
| 6 | Date or period of supply | Leistungsdatum |
| 7 | Net amount, broken down by VAT rate, plus any agreed discounts | Nettobetrag |
| 8 | VAT rate and VAT amount, or a note explaining the exemption | Steuersatz, Steuerbetrag |
| 9 | Note that a private client must keep the invoice for two years | Aufbewahrungshinweis |
| 10 | The word „Gutschrift“ if the client issues the invoice | Gutschrift |

The legal text is in [§ 14 UStG](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/ustg_1980/__14.html) (German only). Item 9 applies to construction and other work on property for private customers. Item 10 applies to self-billing, a concept explained in the article on [Gutschrift versus credit note](https://billfree.de/en/invoicing-in-practice/gutschrift-credit-note/).

## A sample invoice

Here is how a complete invoice looks, with invented names. Priya Nair is a UX designer in Berlin, registered for VAT. She invoices a logistics company in Hamburg for a design sprint in September.

**Sample invoice: Priya Nair UX Design, invoice no. 2026-031, issued 7 October 2026, service period September 2026**

- Discovery workshop, 2 days at €850: €1,700.00
- Clickable prototype, fixed price: €2,400.00
- Net amount: €4,100.00
- VAT 19 % on €4,100.00: €779.00
- **Total due: €4,879.00**

Fictional example. The header shows both full addresses and Priya's VAT ID DE999999999.

The service period „September 2026“ is enough. German rules accept the calendar month as the date of supply. If you do the work and invoice on the same day, a line such as „Date of supply = invoice date“ also works. What does not work is leaving the date out.

## Where foreign freelancers usually slip

The service description. „Consulting“ or „Services as agreed“ is too vague for a German auditor. The description has to make clear what you actually delivered. You may refer to another document, such as „as per quote no. 112 of 2 September 2026“, as long as your client has that quote on file.

The missing date of supply. Templates from US invoicing apps often show only an issue date and a due date. Neither is the date of supply. Put a field for it in the template, or a line under the items.

Rates mixed together. If you sell items at 7 % and 19 % on one invoice, each rate needs its own net amount and VAT amount. One single line „plus VAT“ is not enough.

The wrong number. Some freelancers copy the client's VAT ID from the purchase order into their own field. The invoice needs yours.

The address rules, by contrast, are more relaxed than people think. Since rulings of the EU Court of Justice in 2017 and the Federal Fiscal Court in 2018, any address where you can be reached by post is enough. You do not need a separate office.

## What German VAT law does not require

Bank details, payment terms and a signature are not on the list. Put bank details and a due date on the invoice anyway, for the obvious reason, and because a clear due date decides when your client is in default. The article on [unpaid invoices](https://billfree.de/en/invoicing-in-practice/unpaid-invoice-germany/) explains what you can charge once that happens.

Companies have extra duties from company law. Every GmbH must show its legal form, registered office, the court of registration, its register number and all managing directors on business letters, and invoices count as business letters. That is § 35a of the GmbH Act. Leaving out the register number does not make the invoice invalid for VAT, but it can lead to a fine from the registry court.

The invoice can be in English, and in practice many are. German is the official language of the tax authorities, though, so an auditor can ask for a translation. Bilingual templates with the German terms in brackets save you that conversation.

## Special cases with fewer or extra details

Receipts up to €250 including VAT follow a shorter list with only four items. The article on the [small amount invoice](https://billfree.de/en/mandatory-details/small-amount-invoice-germany/) covers it. If you use the small business exemption, a separate rule applies since 2025, explained under [Kleinunternehmer invoice](https://billfree.de/en/mandatory-details/kleinunternehmer-invoice/).

Cross-border work needs more. Invoicing a business in France or the Netherlands means no German VAT, both VAT IDs on the invoice, and the reverse charge note. Details are in the article on the [reverse charge invoice](https://billfree.de/en/mandatory-details/reverse-charge-invoice-germany/). Clients in the UK, the US or Switzerland are outside the EU system altogether.

## How soon must the invoice go out?

For work done for another business, or for a legal entity such as an association, you must issue the invoice within six months. Deliberately or recklessly skipping it can cost a fine of up to €5,000 under § 26a UStG. For private clients there is no such duty, except for work on their property.

Since 2025 there is a second question: paper, PDF or e-invoice. Between German businesses, PDFs remain fine until the end of 2026. After that it gets tighter, as the [e-invoicing timeline](https://billfree.de/en/e-invoicing/e-invoicing-germany/) shows. The ten details stay the same, they just move into structured data fields. If you want your own platform to generate compliant invoices automatically, a studio such as [OnlineBuilders](https://onlinebuilders.biz/solutions/saas) can build that as part of a SaaS product.

## When something is already wrong

Missing details on an invoice you already sent are fixable. German rules let you send the missing information in a separate document that clearly refers to the original. For wrong recipients or wrong amounts, cancelling and reissuing is cleaner. The steps are in the article on how to [cancel or correct an invoice](https://billfree.de/en/invoicing-in-practice/cancel-invoice-germany/), and the numbering rules in the piece on the [invoice number](https://billfree.de/en/invoicing-in-practice/invoice-number-germany/).

Before your next invoice goes out, run it through the [invoice checker](https://billfree.de/en/invoice-checker/). Tick what is on it, and it shows which detail is missing and whether your client already needs an e-invoice.

## FAQ

### Can I write my invoices in English?

Yes. German VAT law does not prescribe a language. The tax office may ask for a German translation during an audit, because German is the official language of the authorities under § 87 of the Fiscal Code. Bilingual templates avoid that question.

### Do I need to sign my invoices?

No. A signature is not one of the mandatory details, and neither is a company stamp. Your clients will not ask for one, and an invoice sent as a PDF is valid without it.

### Which number goes on the invoice, Steuernummer or USt-IdNr.?

Either one is enough for domestic invoices. Many freelancers prefer the VAT ID (USt-IdNr.), because the tax number also identifies you in your dealings with the tax office. For clients in other EU countries, the VAT ID is mandatory.

### What happens if my invoice is missing a detail?

You still owe the VAT. The real risk sits with your client, who may lose the right to deduct input VAT until you correct the invoice. That is why German accounting departments often refuse to pay an incomplete invoice.

Photo: Tentsposy, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Formular_M%C3%B6belwerk_Wbs5.jpg)