Germany VAT number (USt-IdNr)

Germany's VAT number is called the Umsatzsteuer-Identifikationsnummer, commonly abbreviated as USt-IdNr or UStIdNr. It is issued by the Bundeszentralamt für Steuern (BZSt) — Germany's Federal Central Tax Office — on application by any business registered for VAT purposes.

The USt-IdNr is distinct from the Steuernummer (tax number), which is a domestic identifier assigned by the local Finanzamt. Only the USt-IdNr is valid for intra-EU trade and appears on the VIES database. Confusion between these two numbers is one of the most common sources of validation failures for German suppliers.

A German VAT number always follows this structure:

Spaces, dots, hyphens and slashes are not part of the number but may appear in documents — VAT-Scan strips them automatically during normalisation. Letters are not permitted anywhere after the two-character country prefix.

Germany uses the ISO 7064 MOD 11,10 algorithm to derive the check digit (the 9th digit after DE). This is an iterative algorithm that applies alternating modular operations across the first 8 digits.

The process starts with a product value of 10, then for each of the 8 input digits: compute the sum of the digit and the current product, take that modulo 10 (replacing 0 with 10), double it, and take modulo 11 to get the next product. The expected check digit is (11 − final product) mod 10.

If the check digit derived from the algorithm does not match the 9th digit in the number, the number has a transcription error — one or more digits are wrong. A checksum failure does not mean the business never existed; it means the number as entered is incorrect.

Any German business registered for VAT can hold a USt-IdNr, regardless of legal form. The most common entity types you will encounter:

• GmbH (Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung) — the standard limited liability company. Most medium and large B2B suppliers are GmbHs.
• AG (Aktiengesellschaft) — public limited company. Less common but used by large corporations and listed companies.
• Freiberufler (freelancer / self-employed professional) — doctors, lawyers, architects and similar regulated professionals can register for VAT and receive a USt-IdNr if they trade with EU partners.
• Einzelunternehmen (sole trader) — individual business without separate legal personality. Eligible for VAT registration and USt-IdNr if turnover thresholds are met.
• GbR, OHG, KG — partnership forms. All may hold a USt-IdNr when registered for VAT.

The VAT number format itself does not distinguish between entity types — the same 11-character structure is used across the board.

German VAT law (§14 UStG) requires the USt-IdNr to appear on invoices for cross-border EU transactions. Typically you will find it:

The label may appear as USt-IdNr., Umsatzsteuer-ID, Umsatzsteuer-Identifikationsnummer, or simply VAT ID on German invoices intended for international recipients. Domestic invoices between German businesses sometimes omit it in favour of the Steuernummer.

Germany introduced its VAT identification system in 1993 following the creation of the EU Single Market and the abolition of fiscal borders between member states. The USt-IdNr replaced a patchwork of domestic identifiers for cross-border purposes. The format has remained consistent since then — 11 characters, DE prefix, 9 digits — making it one of the most stable formats in the EU.

The BZSt issues numbers centrally from Saarlouis. German businesses apply for their USt-IdNr separately from their domestic Steuernummer, which is issued by the local Finanzamt. Both may coexist on the same company's documents, serving different purposes.

• Using the Steuernummer instead of the USt-IdNr: The domestic tax number (format: XX/XXX/XXXXX) is not valid for VIES lookup or cross-border invoicing. Always request the USt-IdNr specifically.
• Wrong digit count: 8 digits after DE is a common data entry error. The correct count is 9. Total length must be 11.
• Adding a letter: Some businesses append a "B" or "01" suffix from other country formats. German numbers contain only digits after DE — any letter is incorrect.
• Treating a checksum pass as proof of trading status: A valid USt-IdNr that passes checksum may still belong to a deregistered or dissolved business. Always verify via VIES for B2B due diligence.
• Formatting with spaces: Some systems store numbers as "DE 123 456 789". Strip spaces before validation — VAT-Scan does this automatically.