For UGC creators
UGC creators: an invoice per video, rights with an end date, tax under control.
You shoot videos that brands post on their own channels: per video or package, for several brands a month, often through platforms or agencies. Affliq writes the invoice from the deal, remembers when usage rights end and keeps count of the Kleinunternehmer limit.
No payment details to startNo cut of your earningsServers in Germany
The shoot is the easy part.
What stays open between the brief and the payment.
“How do I write an invoice as a UGC creator?”
With every required detail: names and addresses, tax number or VAT ID, date, invoice number, type and scope of the service, the fee, the tax or the note on the exemption. Affliq makes it from the deal with one tap, per video or package.1
“The product for the shoot, do I pay tax on it?”
If you may keep it after the video, the tax administration usually treats it as income at the usual retail price. If you send it back, no. Affliq records every product with value and whereabouts; what follows for tax is for your tax adviser to say.2
“Lots of small invoices. Am I still a Kleinunternehmer?”
The limit is €25,000 total turnover in the previous year and €100,000 in the current year. Affliq counts the way the tax office counts and warns before an invoice crosses the limit.3
“The brand is based in the US or in France.”
A service to a business counts as supplied where the recipient runs its business, so not in Germany. No German VAT goes on the invoice; for the EU, add the note that the recipient owes the tax. Affliq derives the tax case from the brand's seat and VAT ID.4
The back office for UGC.
For creators who deliver content rather than post it, with or without an agency.
An invoice per video or package
From the deal with gapless numbering, the required details and the right tax case: Germany, Kleinunternehmer, reverse charge in the EU or third country. As an e-invoice for companies too, corrections and cancellations as documents of their own.
Usage rights and exclusivity with an end date
Affliq remembers per deal when usage rights and exclusivity run out, shows it in time on Today and in the calendar subscription and warns when two exclusivities overlap.
Products for the shoot
Every product with market value, business share and history: received, kept, used up, returned. With screenshots of the shop price as evidence and records that can no longer be changed.
An agency or platform in between
If an agency books you, the invoice goes to the agency with the tax case from its seat. If a platform settles by self-billing credit note (Gutschrift), it counts as an invoice when agreed beforehand; Affliq records it with its tax case and warns when it shows VAT you do not owe.5
Dunning when the brand does not pay
A business is in default at the latest 30 days after the due date and receipt of the invoice. Affliq knows your payment term per deal and prepares the reminder, the dunning letter and the final notice, with late interest and the €40 flat fee for businesses.6
Kleinunternehmer counter and tax reserve
Affliq counts total turnover by amounts received, so what is paid, and only turnover in Germany. You see the €25,000 and the €100,000, and every month what you should set aside as a tax reserve at your own rate.7
UGC is a service. Bill it like one.
User generated content means: you produce, the brand posts. You are paid per video or package, often by several brands a month, through UGC platforms, agencies or directly. Whoever does this on a planned, repeated basis earns business income in the view of the tax administration (Hessisches Ministerium der Finanzen, Leitfaden Influencer, S. 2). You register the trade when you start (§ 14 Abs. 1 GewO) and send the tax registration questionnaire within one month via ELSTER (§ 138 Abs. 1b und 4 AO).
Every video for a brand is a service to another business. You must issue an invoice for it within six months (§ 14 Abs. 2 Satz 2 Nr. 1 UStG) with the details required by § 14 Abs. 4 UStG, among them the type and scope of the service. For UGC that means, in practice, what you deliver and which usage rights you grant. As a Kleinunternehmer you invoice without VAT, with the note on the exemption (§ 34a UStDV). If you show VAT anyway, you owe it to the tax office (§ 14c Abs. 2 UStG).
Many UGC clients are abroad. A service to a business is supplied where the recipient runs its business (§ 3a Abs. 2 UStG), so not in Germany. For a brand in the EU you invoice without VAT, with the wording „Steuerschuldnerschaft des Leistungsempfängers“ and both VAT IDs, by the 15th of the following month (§ 14a Abs. 1 UStG), and report the turnover in the Zusammenfassende Meldung (§ 18a Abs. 2 UStG), unless you are a Kleinunternehmer (§ 18a Abs. 4 UStG). For a brand in the US, no German VAT goes on the invoice either. This is a conclusion drawn from the statute, not an explicit rule for UGC creators: have your tax adviser check it.
The product you receive for the shoot is business income at the usual retail price if you may keep it after the video (Leitfaden Hessen, S. 2 f.). If you send it back, it is not. For the Kleinunternehmer limit such products usually count at their value (§ 3 Abs. 12 Satz 2 UStG; Abschnitt 19.2 Abs. 2 Satz 4 UStAE), while invoices to brands abroad do not enter the total turnover because they are not taxable in Germany (§ 19 Abs. 2 Satz 1 UStG). With many small invoices it pays to count as you go rather than in December.
That is exactly what Affliq does: every job is a deal with brand or agency, fee, deliverables and the end of the usage rights. The invoice comes from the deal with the right tax case, as a PDF and an e-invoice. You record products with value and whereabouts, platform credit notes are checked for VAT, the Kleinunternehmer limit counts along, and if a brand does not pay, the dunning letter is ready. At year end your tax adviser gets a package with everything, plus the bookings in the format of DATEV, sevDesk or lexoffice.
Affliq records and does the maths, it does not advise. How things are taxed is your tax adviser's call.
Frequently asked questions
How do I write an invoice as a UGC creator?
With your name and address, the brand's, your tax number or VAT ID, the date, a unique invoice number, type and scope of the service, the date of supply, the fee and the tax or the note on the exemption. You do not need an invoice template: Affliq makes the invoice from the deal, with the right note for Kleinunternehmer, VAT or reverse charge.1
Do I have to register a business as a UGC creator?
Anyone who produces videos for brands regularly and with the intention of making a profit is usually running a business; that is how the state tax administrations see it. You report the start to the trade office and send the tax registration questionnaire within one month via ELSTER. Affliq's start-up checklist walks you through the steps, each with the law behind it.8
Which taxes do I pay as a UGC creator?
Income tax on your profit, trade tax only once your trade income exceeds €24,500, and VAT unless you are a Kleinunternehmer. Affliq keeps a tax reserve at your own rate and shows the Kleinunternehmer limit; what applies to you is for your tax adviser to say.2
Do I pay tax on the product I receive for the video?
If you may keep it after the video, usually yes, at the usual retail price less customary discounts. If you send it back, it is not income. Affliq records every product with value, evidence and whereabouts so your tax adviser can decide.2
The brand is in the US. Does VAT go on the invoice?
No German VAT. The service counts as supplied where the brand runs its business. This is a conclusion drawn from the statute, not an explicit rule for UGC: have your tax adviser confirm it fits your case. Affliq picks the third-country tax case from the brand's seat.4
What happens when the usage rights expire?
What applies then is in your contract with the brand: usually the use ends, or the brand extends for a new fee. Affliq remembers the end per deal, shows it in time on Today and in the calendar and warns when two exclusivities overlap.
How do I become a UGC creator in Germany?
The portfolio and the first brands are your part. For tax: report the trade, send the tax registration questionnaire within one month via ELSTER, decide on the Kleinunternehmer rule, put the tax number in your legal profile. Affliq's start-up checklist counts the deadlines from your start date.9
What if the brand does not pay?
At the latest 30 days after the due date and receipt of your invoice it is in default; from then on you are owed late interest and, from businesses, the €40 flat fee. Affliq shows what is overdue on Today and has the reminder, the dunning letter and the final notice ready, with totals, as PDF and email.6
Sources
Statutes and administrative guidance. The current statutory text always prevails, and what applies to you is for your tax adviser to say.
- § 14 Abs. 4 Satz 1 UStG§ 14 UStG – Ausstellung von Rechnungen
- Hessisches Ministerium der Finanzen, Leitfaden Influencer, S. 2 f.Leitfaden zur Besteuerung von Influencerinnen und Influencern · Hessisches Ministerium der Finanzen, June 2026
- § 19 Abs. 1 Satz 1 UStG§ 19 UStG – Besteuerung der Kleinunternehmer
- § 3a Abs. 2 UStG§ 3a UStG – Ort der sonstigen Leistung
- § 14 Abs. 2 Satz 5 UStG§ 14 UStG – Ausstellung von Rechnungen
- § 286 Abs. 3 BGB§ 286 BGB – Verzug des Schuldners
- § 19 Abs. 2 Satz 1 UStG§ 19 UStG – Besteuerung der Kleinunternehmer
- § 14 Abs. 1 Satz 1 GewO§ 14 GewO – Anzeigepflicht · gesetze-im-internet.de, Federal Ministry of Justice
- § 138 Abs. 4 AO§ 138 AO – Anzeigen über die Erwerbstätigkeit
Further sources
- Influencer & SteuernFinanzverwaltung Nordrhein-Westfalen
- § 3 UStG – Lieferung, sonstige Leistung
- § 14a UStG – Zusätzliche Pflichten bei der Ausstellung von Rechnungen in besonderen Fällen
- § 14c UStG – Unrichtiger oder unberechtigter Steuerausweis
- § 18a UStG – Zusammenfassende Meldung
- § 34a UStDV – Rechnungen von Kleinunternehmern
- Umsatzsteuer-Anwendungserlass (UStAE)Federal Ministry of Finance; Abschnitt 19.2
- § 288 BGB – Verzugszinsen und sonstiger Verzugsschaden
More from Affliq
TikTok Shop creators
Free samples with their video deadline, commissions, clawbacks and your sellers in one place.
Instagram creators
Reel and Story packages, a link in bio with imprint, discount codes and PR packages.
YouTubers
AdSense payouts, sponsored integrations and affiliate links with the right tax case.
Streamers
Twitch, YouTube and TikTok payouts, sponsors and gear with the right tax case.
Influencers
Collaborations, invoices, PR packages and trips for Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.
All guides
14 guides on tax, free samples, platforms and invoices, sorted by topic.
Next video, next invoice, no template.
Join the list and write your next UGC invoice from the deal, with the right tax case.