{"country":"DE","series":"vat","value":19,"unit":"percent","effective_from":"2007-01-01","last_confirmed":"2026-07-20","source":{"name":"Umsatzsteuergesetz (UStG) Section 12(1): 'Die Steuer betraegt fuer jeden steuerpflichtigen Umsatz 19 Prozent der Bemessungsgrundlage'; rate set by Haushaltsbegleitgesetz 2006 of 29 June 2006 (BGBl. I S. 1402), consolidated text at gesetze-im-internet.de (BMJ/juris)","url":"https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/ustg_1980/__12.html"},"notes":"Standard rate 19% (Regelsteuersatz), unchanged since 1 January 2007. A reduced rate of 7% (ermaessigter Steuersatz, Section 12(2) UStG) applies to the goods in Anlage 2 UStG (most foodstuffs, books, newspapers, plants), local public passenger transport, short-term accommodation, admissions to theatres/concerts/museums, dental-technician work, copyright licensing and certain charitable supplies. IMPORTANT 2026 CHANGE CONFIRMED IN THE STATUTE TEXT: restaurant and catering services (Restaurant- und Verpflegungsdienstleistungen) were moved permanently to the 7% reduced rate with effect from 1 January 2026, with the express exception of beverages (Abgabe von Getraenken), which remain at 19%. A 0% rate (Section 12(3) UStG) applies to the supply and installation of photovoltaic modules and storage up to 30 kW (peak) on or near residential buildings and buildings used for public/community purposes. Germany also operates the special agricultural flat-rate scheme (Section 24 UStG). VAT is a federal tax; there are no sub-national VAT rates, but note the special territorial exclusions of Buesingen am Hochrhein and Helgoland, which lie outside the EU VAT territory and where German VAT is not levied. The 16%/5% COVID reduction applied only from 1 July to 31 December 2020 and has long expired. Access: gesetze-im-internet.de (the official BMJ consolidated-law portal) served the full text cleanly; the Bundesfinanzministerium law portal esth.bundesfinanzministerium.de is behind a Radware bot-protection wall and returned a JS challenge shell rather than content. VAT BANDS (added 2026-07-27): the country's other statutory bands are now served as structured data on this series and can be priced through /v1/answers/vat by passing the band key. We publish each band and the scope the instrument itself states; we do NOT classify a particular supply into a band, which is a legal determination.","vat_bands":[{"band":"reduced","rate":7,"applies_to":"UStG SS 12 Abs. 2: \"Die Steuer ermaessigt sich auf sieben Prozent fuer die folgenden Umsaetze\" - Nr. 1 the goods listed in Anlage 2 (live animals; meat and edible offal; fish and crustaceans; milk and dairy produce; edible fruit and nuts; coffee, tea, mate and spices, and many further entries); Nr. 3 livestock breeding and plant cultivation; Nr. 6 dental technician services; Nr. 7 admission to theatres, concerts and museums, comparable performances, film screenings, copyright-derived rights, circuses and zoos; Nr. 8 services of bodies pursuing charitable, benevolent or ecclesiastical purposes under SSSS 51-68 AO; Nr. 9 public swimming and therapeutic baths; Nr. 10 rail, trolleybus, licensed bus, taxi, cable-car and authorised ship passenger transport within a municipality or over routes not exceeding 50 kilometres; Nr. 11 letting of living and sleeping accommodation held out for short-term lodging of strangers, and short-term camping pitches; Nr. 14 electronic publications; Nr. 15 restaurant and catering services, excluding the supply of drinks.","source":{"name":"Umsatzsteuergesetz (UStG) SS 12 Abs. 2 and Anlage 2","url":"https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/ustg_1980/__12.html"},"notes":"NOT EXHAUSTIVE as to Anlage 2, which runs to many further numbered entries; Nrn. 5, 12 and 13 are repealed. SS 12 Abs. 2 Nr. 15 (restaurant and catering excluding drinks) is IN FORCE from 1 January 2026 under the Steueraenderungsgesetz 2025 and is not time-limited. Expired temporary measures are deliberately excluded: the COVID-era 7% rate on restaurant services ended 31 December 2023 and the temporary 7% rate on gas and district heating has also expired. Underpinned by Annex III of Directive 2006/112/EC, but the operative source is the UStG."},{"band":"zero","rate":0,"applies_to":"UStG SS 12 Abs. 3: \"Die Steuer ermaessigt sich auf 0 Prozent fuer die folgenden Umsaetze\" - supplies of solar modules to the operator of a photovoltaic installation, including components essential to its operation and storage units for the electricity generated, where the installation is on or near private dwellings, homes, or public and other buildings used for activities serving the common good; the conditions are deemed met where the installed gross capacity per the Marktstammdatenregister does not exceed 30 kilowatts (peak). The intra-Community acquisition, the importation, and the installation of those same items are equally at 0 per cent.","source":{"name":"Umsatzsteuergesetz (UStG) SS 12 Abs. 3 (Nullsteuersatz fuer Photovoltaikanlagen)","url":"https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/ustg_1980/__12.html"},"notes":"A genuine RATE band (Nullsteuersatz): taxable at 0% with full input-tax deduction, legally distinct from the SS 4 UStG exemptions, most of which carry no deduction. In force and not time-limited on its face. Germany has no parking, super-reduced or intermediate rate; the SS 24 flat-rate scheme for agriculture and forestry is a compensation scheme, not a rate band, and is not served here."}],"confidence":"primary","stale":false,"disclaimer":"Independent service, not affiliated with any government. Verify against the cited official source before legal or financial use."}