How to File Your VAT Advance Return (USt-VA) with ELSTER

If you charge VAT on your invoices, you regularly tell the tax office (Finanzamt) how much VAT you’ve collected and how much input tax you’ve paid. That’s the VAT advance return (Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldung, USt-VA). It’s submitted electronically through ELSTER, the tax administration’s online platform.

This guide shows who has to file, by when, what goes into the return and how to submit it: yourself via Mein ELSTER, or directly from Solobooks.

Key points

• Everyone who is not a Kleinunternehmer (small business exempt from VAT) files advance returns.
• They’re due quarterly, or monthly if your VAT for the previous year was more than 9,000 euros (§ 18(2) UStG).
• The deadline is the 10th day after the period ends. Your payment must reach the Finanzamt by then too.
• A permanent extension (Dauerfristverlängerung) gives you one more month. Monthly filers pay a special advance payment for it.
• The return contains net amounts. ELSTER works out the VAT on domestic sales itself.
• Electronic filing is mandatory. Paper is only allowed on application in hardship cases.

Who has to file

Every business that owes VAT, meaning everyone without the Kleinunternehmer scheme (§ 18(1) UStG). Kleinunternehmer don’t file advance returns.

How often depends on your VAT for the previous year (§ 18(2) UStG):

VAT for the previous year	Filing period
more than 9,000 euros	calendar month
up to 9,000 euros	calendar quarter
up to 2,000 euros	The Finanzamt can exempt you from advance returns altogether.

In the year you start and the year after, the rule is monthly filing. For 2021 to 2026 that rule is suspended: the expected VAT for the current year decides instead.

You also file for a period with no sales, as a nil return. The Finanzamt tells you which period applies to you.

Deadlines

The return must be submitted by the 10th day after the filing period ends, and the payment is due the same day (§ 18(1) UStG).

Period	Due
January	10 February
February	10 March
…	…
December	10 January
Q1	10 April
Q2	10 July
Q3	10 October
Q4	10 January

If the 10th falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, the deadline moves to the next working day (§ 108(3) AO).

Paying late: for each month or part of a month, a late-payment surcharge of 1% of the amount, rounded down to the nearest 50 euros, applies (§ 240 AO). Filing late: the Finanzamt can charge a late-filing surcharge (§ 152 AO).

Tip: give the Finanzamt a SEPA direct debit mandate. The amount due is then collected on the due date, and you can’t forget to pay.

The permanent extension (Dauerfristverlängerung)

A permanent extension moves both filing and payment back by one month (§ 46 UStDV). The January return is then due on 10 March instead of 10 February.

How to apply: electronically through ELSTER, using the form for the permanent extension and special advance payment. You must apply by the day the first return it should cover would be due (§ 48(1) UStDV). For a full year, that means by 10 February, or by 10 April for quarterly filers. Once granted, the extension carries over into later years until you withdraw it or the Finanzamt revokes it.

Special advance payment for monthly filers: if you file monthly, you pay a special advance payment (Sondervorauszahlung) once a year of one eleventh of the previous year’s advance payments (§ 47 UStDV). It’s credited in the December return (box 39). Quarterly filers pay no special advance payment.

Example: your advance payments for 2025 added up to 22,000 euros. For 2026 you pay a special advance payment of 22,000 ÷ 11 = 2,000 euros. In the December 2026 return, you deduct the 2,000 euros again.

What goes into the return

The return works with numbered boxes (Kennzahlen, Kz). Most freelancers only need a few:

Box	Content
81	net sales at 19%
86	net sales at 7%
21	services to businesses in other EU countries (reverse charge), net
41	goods supplied to businesses in other EU countries, net
43	other tax-exempt sales with input tax deduction, such as exports
45	other sales not taxable in Germany, such as services to businesses outside the EU
48	tax-exempt sales without input tax deduction
46 / 47	services you bought from businesses in other EU countries: net amount and the VAT you owe on it
84 / 85	other services where you as the recipient owe the VAT, for example from businesses outside the EU
66	input tax from other businesses’ invoices
67	input tax on services where you owe the VAT (boxes 47 and 85)
39	deduction of the special advance payment, usually only in December
83	remaining amount due, or refund

Example for a quarter: you invoiced 12,000 euros net at 19% and received invoices with 600 euros input tax.

• Box 81: 12,000 (not 2,280 and not 14,280)
• ELSTER works out 2,280 euros VAT from that
• Box 66: 600
• Box 83: 2,280 − 600 = 1,680 euros due

A software subscription from a provider in another EU country, say 100 euros net a month, goes in box 46 (100) and box 47 (19). You deduct the same 19 euros in box 67. For you it nets to zero, but you still have to report it.

Route 1: Yourself via Mein ELSTER

1. Log in at elster.de with your Mein ELSTER account, for example with a certificate file or your ID card.
2. Open the form: the VAT advance return (Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldung) for the right year.
3. Choose the period: month or quarter.
4. Fill in the boxes, with net amounts.
5. Check: ELSTER shows errors and warnings before you submit.
6. Submit and save the transmission log (Übertragungsprotokoll) as a PDF.
7. Pay by the due date, unless you have a direct debit mandate.

You take the figures from your books. What matters is that every income and expense item is recorded with the right VAT rate.

Route 2: Directly from Solobooks

If you keep your books in Solobooks, it builds the return from your transactions, and you submit it to the tax office with one click.

One-time setup

1. VAT settings: under Settings → VAT & Tax, choose “I am VAT registered”, enter your VAT ID (USt-IdNr) and pick the filing period, monthly or quarterly.
2. Tax number: add your Steuernummer in your profile. The return is filed under it.
3. ELSTER certificate: under VAT & Tax, upload your certificate file from Mein ELSTER (.pfx or .p12) and enter its password. Solobooks submits the return with your certificate, so in your name.

Every month or quarter

1. Check the draft. Solobooks creates a return for each period automatically. You’ll find it under Taxes → VAT Reports on the “Upcoming” tab, with its due date. As the deadline gets close, you get an email reminder.
2. View the details. “Details” shows what will be submitted: domestic sales net and VAT, input tax, sales to businesses in other EU countries, services bought from businesses abroad, and the remaining amount due or refund. You can test and submit once the period has ended.
3. Test report. “Test Report” sends the return to ELSTER in test mode. You get a PDF preview back; nothing is filed.
4. Submit. “Submit to Finanzamt” sends the return to your tax office. It moves to the “Submitted” tab, and the transmission log is available as a PDF.
5. Pay by the due date, unless you have a direct debit mandate.

If ELSTER rejects the submission, Solobooks shows the return with the status “Error” and the message. Fix the cause and submit again.

Solobooks also creates the EC Sales List (Zusammenfassende Meldung) for sales to businesses in other EU countries each quarter and submits it the same way.

Good to know

• The payment date counts. Solobooks assigns income and expenses by transaction date; for invoices, that’s the day of payment. That matches taxation on payments received (Ist-Versteuerung, § 20 UStG), which Freiberufler can apply for. If you’re taxed on invoiced amounts (Soll-Versteuerung), check the figures before submitting.
• VAT rate per transaction. The return is only as good as the VAT rates on your transactions. Check cross-border sales and reverse-charge expenses in particular.

Common mistakes

• Gross amounts or the VAT in box 81. It takes the net amount.
• Forgetting the reverse charge. Software subscriptions and ads from providers in other EU countries go in boxes 46 and 47, even though box 67 cancels the VAT out.
• Input tax without a proper invoice. No invoice with VAT shown separately, no input tax deduction.
• Forgetting the nil return. A return is due even without sales.
• Filing and not paying. The return doesn’t replace the payment, unless the Finanzamt collects by direct debit.

Found a mistake? File a corrected return

If you submitted a wrong return, file a corrected return (berichtigte Anmeldung) for the same period, in ELSTER via box 10. It contains the complete corrected figures, not just the difference. If the year is already over, you can also make the correction in the annual VAT return.

Record keeping

Keep the transmission log with your records. Invoices and other accounting vouchers: eight years; books and records: ten years (§ 147(3) AO, § 14b UStG).

FAQ

When is the VAT advance return due? By the 10th day after the month or quarter ends. With a permanent extension, one month later.

Do I file monthly or quarterly? Monthly if your VAT for the previous year was over 9,000 euros, otherwise quarterly.

Do I have to file if I had no sales? Yes. You then submit a nil return.

What goes in box 81? The net amount of your sales at the 19% rate. ELSTER works out the tax itself.

What does the permanent extension cost? Nothing if you file quarterly. Monthly filers pay a special advance payment of one eleventh of the previous year’s payments, credited in December.

Do I need an ELSTER certificate to file from Solobooks? Yes. Solobooks submits the return with your certificate file from Mein ELSTER, in your name.

Can I file on paper? Only if the Finanzamt allows it on application to avoid undue hardship.

Need help?

• Email us at support@solobooks.de
• Chat with us in the app

You can read more on our bookkeeping with Solobooks page. The basics of VAT rates, the Kleinunternehmer scheme and the reverse charge are in our guide to understanding VAT for freelancers.

Sources

• § 18 UStG – Besteuerungsverfahren (Voranmeldung)
• §§ 46–48 UStDV – Dauerfristverlängerung und Sondervorauszahlung
• § 20 UStG – Berechnung der Steuer nach vereinnahmten Entgelten
• § 108 AO – Fristen und Termine
• § 240 AO – Säumniszuschläge
• § 152 AO – Verspätungszuschlag
• § 147 AO – Aufbewahrungsfristen
• ELSTER – Das Online-Finanzamt

Last checked: 30 October 2026. This article is general information, not tax advice for your individual case. Legislation and official guidance change — the current version of each source prevails.

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Last updated: October 30, 2026