Invoicing brands as a creator in Germany: mandatory details and e-invoicing

The basic rules.

Four sentences from the German VAT act.

Brands always get an invoice.

For a service to another business you must issue an invoice, within six months. A video, a post or a story for a brand is such a service.¹

The mandatory details are in the law.

Names and addresses, tax number or VAT id, date, invoice number, the service, when, the net amount, VAT rate and VAT amount or a note on the exemption. If one is missing, the invoice is not in order.²

Wrong VAT is still owed.

If you show VAT although you may not as a Kleinunternehmer, you owe that amount to the tax office. The same goes for showing too much VAT.³

Keep it for eight years.

You keep a copy of every invoice you issue for eight years, counted from the end of the year you issued it.⁴

Depending on the case.

Who you are and where the brand sits decide what else goes on the invoice.

As a Kleinunternehmer

No VAT, but a note that the small business exemption applies (§ 19 UStG), and the fee as one sum. The rule asks for no invoice number; it is still sensible to use one.⁵

Brand elsewhere in the EU

The service counts as rendered where the brand runs its business. The brand owes the VAT: you invoice without VAT, with the words „Steuerschuldnerschaft des Leistungsempfängers“ (reverse charge) and both VAT ids, by the 15th of the following month.⁶

Brand outside the EU

Here too the place of the service is the brand's business, so not Germany. The invoice carries no German VAT.⁷

Up to €250, less is enough

For a total of up to €250, your name and address, the date, the service, the gross amount and the VAT rate suffice. This does not apply to reverse charge invoices.⁸

The brand writes a self-billing invoice

If agreed beforehand, the brand may bill your service itself. The document must say „Gutschrift“. If you object to it, it no longer counts as an invoice.⁹

Month instead of day

As the time of the service, the calendar month you rendered it in may stand. If a detail is missing, you correct it with a document that clearly refers to the invoice.¹⁰

E-invoicing: what changes for creators.

Since 2025 an e-invoice is only an invoice in a structured format a program can read (§ 14 Abs. 1 Satz 3 UStG). A PDF by email is no longer an e-invoice. XRechnung and ZUGFeRD from version 2.0.1 meet the requirements, except the MINIMUM and BASIC-WL profiles (BMF, questions and answers on e-invoicing, October 2026).

If you and the brand are both in Germany, you must issue an e-invoice (§ 14 Abs. 2 Satz 2 Nr. 1 UStG). There is a transition: for services until the end of 2026 you may still send paper or a PDF, for services in 2027 too if your total turnover the year before was at most €800,000 (§ 27 Abs. 38 UStG). From 2028 the e-invoice to German brands is mandatory.

Kleinunternehmer may keep sending paper or PDF (§ 34a Satz 4 UStDV), as may anyone for invoices up to €250 (§ 33 Satz 4 UStDV). But you must be able to receive e-invoices since 2025, as a Kleinunternehmer too; an email inbox is enough (BMF, questions and answers on e-invoicing). For brands abroad there is no German e-invoicing duty.

If the brand does not pay, it is in default at the latest 30 days after the due date and receipt of the invoice (§ 286 Abs. 3 BGB). Then you are owed default interest of nine percentage points above the base rate and a flat €40 (§ 288 Abs. 2 und 5 BGB). If you get a product besides the fee, it is part of the consideration too; see the guide on samples. Affliq writes the invoice from the deal: a sequential number, the matching tax case with the right note, a PDF with an embedded ZUGFeRD e-invoice and XRechnung, sending by email and a dunning letter with interest and the flat fee if the brand does not pay.

Affliq records and does the maths, it does not advise. How things are taxed is your tax adviser's call.

Frequently asked questions

What has to be on an invoice to a brand?

Your name and address, the brand's, your tax number or VAT id, the issue date, a unique invoice number, what you did, when, the net amount, VAT rate and VAT amount or a note on the exemption.²

Do I have to send an e-invoice as a creator?

To a brand in Germany yes, but only after a transition: for services until the end of 2026 a PDF or paper still works, in 2027 too with at most €800,000 turnover the year before. As a Kleinunternehmer you are exempt.¹¹

I am a Kleinunternehmer. What goes on the invoice?

No VAT, but the fee as one sum with a note that the small business exemption applies to the service (§ 19 UStG). Plus both names and addresses, your tax number, the date and the service.⁵

What if I add 19 % as a Kleinunternehmer?

Then you owe the VAT shown to the tax office, although you were not allowed to charge it. It can only be corrected once the brand has not deducted the input VAT or has paid it back, and only on application to the tax office.¹²

The brand is in the Netherlands. With or without VAT?

Without. The brand owes the VAT in its country. Your invoice carries the words „Steuerschuldnerschaft des Leistungsempfängers“ and, unless you are a Kleinunternehmer, your VAT id and the brand's. You must issue it by the 15th of the following month.⁶

Do I need a VAT id as a Kleinunternehmer for brands elsewhere in the EU?

It need not be on a Kleinunternehmer's invoice; the duty to show both numbers does not apply to them. Whether you apply for one anyway, for example because the brand asks for it, is a question for your tax adviser.¹³

When does the brand have to pay?

What you agreed. At the latest 30 days after the due date and receipt of the invoice it is in default. From then you may claim default interest of nine percentage points above the base rate and a flat €40.¹⁴

The agency booked me, not the brand. Who gets the invoice?

The one you render the service for, usually your contract partner. The invoice names their full name and address as the recipient. If the contract is with the agency, the invoice goes to the agency.¹⁵

Sources

Statutes and administrative guidance, as of 1 November 2026. Tax law changes: the current statutory text always prevails, and what applies to you is for your tax adviser to say.

§ 14 Abs. 2 Satz 2 Nr. 1 UStG§ 14 UStG – Issuing invoices
§ 14 Abs. 4 Satz 1 UStG§ 14 UStG – Issuing invoices
§ 14c UStG§ 14c UStG – Incorrect or unauthorised VAT shown
§ 14b Abs. 1 UStG§ 14b UStG – Retention of invoices
§ 34a UStDV§ 34a UStDV – Invoices of small businesses
§ 14a Abs. 1 UStG§ 14a UStG – Additional invoicing duties in special cases
§ 3a Abs. 2 UStG§ 3a UStG – Place of services
§ 33 UStDV§ 33 UStDV – Invoices for small amounts
§ 14 Abs. 2 Satz 5 und 6 UStG§ 14 UStG – Issuing invoices
§ 31 Abs. 4 und 5 UStDV§ 31 UStDV – Details in the invoice
§ 27 Abs. 38 UStG§ 27 UStG – General transitional provisions
§ 14c Abs. 2 UStG§ 14c UStG – Incorrect or unauthorised VAT shown
§ 19 Abs. 1 Satz 2 UStG§ 19 UStG – Small businesses
§ 286 Abs. 3 BGB§ 286 BGB – Default of the debtor
§ 14 Abs. 4 Satz 1 Nr. 1 UStG§ 14 UStG – Issuing invoices

Further sources

§ 288 BGB – Default interest and other damage
Questions and answers on mandatory e-invoicingFederal Ministry of Finance, October 2026, in German
BMF letter of 15 October 2025 on mandatory e-invoicingFederal Ministry of Finance, III C 2 - S 7287-a/00019/007/243, in German

Invoicing brands: what has to be on it.

The basic rules.

Brands always get an invoice.

The mandatory details are in the law.

Wrong VAT is still owed.

Keep it for eight years.

Depending on the case.

As a Kleinunternehmer

Brand elsewhere in the EU

Brand outside the EU

Up to €250, less is enough

The brand writes a self-billing invoice

Month instead of day

E-invoicing: what changes for creators.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Further sources

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Every invoice complete, from the deal.