German VAT Return (UStVA) 2026: ELSTER Guide, Calculation and Deadlines

Key takeaways

• Deadline: the 10th day after the end of the month or quarter. If it falls on a weekend or public holiday, the next working day applies (§ 108 (3) AO). Payment is due the same day.
• Frequency in 2026: monthly with more than 9,000 € of VAT in the previous year, quarterly with 2,000 to 9,000 €, and up to 2,000 € the Finanzamt can exempt you (§ 18 (2) UStG).
• Fields: 81 (revenue at 19 %), 86 (revenue at 7 %), 66 (input VAT), 46, 47 and 67 (reverse charge from the EU), 83 (amount due). Revenue goes in net, in whole euros.
• Permanent extension (Dauerfristverlängerung): one extra month. Monthly filers pay a special prepayment of 1/11 of the previous year's prepayments (§ 47 UStDV).
• Paid late: 1 % surcharge per month started on the amount rounded down to the nearest 50 € (§ 240 AO). Filed late: a late-filing surcharge of up to 25,000 € at the Finanzamt's discretion (§ 152 AO).
• From 2027 founders file monthly again in the year they start and the year after, unless the exception is extended.

Who has to file, and how often?

Every business with VAT-taxable revenue files. The legal form does not matter: sole traders, freelancers, UGs and GmbHs follow the same thresholds. Small businesses under § 19 UStG charge no VAT and usually file no UStVA; when the Kleinunternehmer rule applies is explained in its own guide.

Your previous year's VAT, the sum of your amounts due, sets the frequency:

Founders in 2026 and 2027. For 2021 to 2026, § 18 (2) sentence 6 UStG suspends the monthly filing duty for new businesses: your expected VAT, which you estimate in the tax registration questionnaire, decides, and most founders land in the quarterly cycle. There is no extension for 2027 so far (as of October 2026). If you start in 2027, the law has you file monthly in that year and the next.

Still monthly although you are below 9,000 €? The Finanzamt sets the period from last year's figures. If it keeps asking for monthly returns, a short letter is enough, for example as a free-text message in ELSTER. Write it in German:

Betreff: Voranmeldungszeitraum ab Januar 2027, Steuernummer [your tax number]

Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, meine Umsatzsteuer für 2026 beträgt [amount] € und liegt damit nicht über 9.000 €. Ich bitte darum, ab Januar 2027 das Kalendervierteljahr als Voranmeldungszeitraum festzulegen (§ 18 Abs. 2 Satz 1 UStG). [If it is 2,000 € or less: Ich beantrage die Befreiung von der Abgabe der Voranmeldungen nach § 18 Abs. 2 Satz 3 UStG.]

Mit freundlichen Grüßen, [name]

It says: my VAT for 2026 is [amount] € and not above 9,000 €; please set the calendar quarter as my reporting period from January 2027 (and, where it applies, exempt me from advance returns).

How to calculate the UStVA: an example

Lena is a self-employed designer in Leipzig. She uses accrual accounting and files quarterly. In the third quarter of 2026 she has:

• design work for German clients, 18,000 € net (19 %)
• e-books sold to private buyers in Germany, 1,000 € net (7 %)
• Google Ads for 500 € net, billed by Google Ireland without German VAT (reverse charge, § 13b (1) UStG)
• a laptop for 1,500 € net and software and phone for 600 € net, each with 19 % VAT on proper invoices

The maths: 3,420 € + 70 € + 95 € = 3,585 € VAT, minus 399 € + 95 € = 494 € input VAT, gives 3,091 €. The Google Ads invoice does not change the amount due, because 47 and 67 cancel out. Lena still has to report it: Google reports the service in its EC sales list, and the Finanzamt matches the two. More on these cases in the reverse charge guide.

The return is due on 10 October 2026. That is a Saturday, so the deadline moves to Monday, 12 October. A bank transfer has a three-day grace period (§ 240 (3) AO). If Lena's money only reaches the Finanzamt on Friday, 16 October, she owes a surcharge of 1 % on 3,050 €, that is 30.50 €, for every month started.

Step by step: filing the UStVA in ELSTER

1. Set up access. Without an ELSTER account, register at elster.de. The activation code comes by letter; allow up to two weeks, not the last days before the deadline.

2. Open the form. After login, go to "Formulare & Leistungen", then "Alle Formulare", "Umsatzsteuer" and "Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldung 2026". Choose the month or quarter. The VAT return form guide walks through the official USt 1 A line by line.

3. Enter revenue. Net amounts in whole euros in fields 81 and 86; ELSTER calculates the VAT. Tax-free supplies of goods to businesses in other EU countries go in field 41, services to EU businesses in field 21.

4. Enter reverse charge. If you bought services from businesses in other EU countries, such as advertising or software, enter the net amount in field 46 and the VAT in field 47. You deduct the same VAT again in field 67.

5. Enter input VAT. The total VAT from your supplier invoices goes in field 66, in euros and cents. You may only deduct what is on an invoice with all mandatory details under § 14 (4) UStG.

6. Check and send. ELSTER shows the amount due in field 83. Save the transmission protocol as a PDF. If you do not pay by SEPA direct debit, transfer the money with your tax number and the period in the reference. A surplus in your favour is refunded.

The fields you need most

If you report supplies to EU businesses in field 21 or 41, you also file an EC sales list (Zusammenfassende Meldung) with the Federal Central Tax Office.

New since 2026: field 500

With a letter dated 29 December 2025, the Federal Ministry of Finance published the 2026 forms. The old field 23 for supplementary information is gone. Field 500 in line 55 replaces it, with four values:

Any entry takes the return out of automated processing, and you must also explain the matter in writing, for example in an ELSTER message. For a normal return, leave the field empty.

Official UStVA form (current edition)

The official German advance VAT return form as a PDF, to understand, prepare, and file away.

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Deadlines to April 2027

The application for the permanent extension (form USt 1 H) must be in by the first deadline it should cover (§ 48 (1) UStDV): for monthly filers in 2027 that is 10 February 2027, together with the special prepayment. Quarterly filers apply by 12 April 2027 and pay no special prepayment. Once granted, the extension runs until you withdraw it; monthly filers still register the special prepayment again every year. It is credited against the December return. All dates of the year are in the VAT deadlines 2026.

Most people file close to the deadline. In our after-hours bookkeeping analysis (more than 400 returns from over 100 businesses filing with Norman, since mid-2024, data as of June 2026), the 10th is by far the busiest day with about 13 % of all submissions, and about one in five returns arrives in the last 48 hours. If you are regularly that late, the permanent extension buys you a whole month.

What mistakes cost

You correct a wrong return by submitting it again in full for the same period, with a "1" in field 10. The steps are in the guide to correcting a VAT return.

Expert opinion

The tax rule we're most tired of reciting: even if you had no revenue and no business activity, you still have to file, it doesn't matter whether it's a monthly VAT return or the annual EÜR. We keep saying it, the self-employed keep not doing it, they get a letter from the Finanzamt and then still ask us whether they really need to file.

How to do it with Norman

Typing the UStVA into ELSTER by hand costs time every period. With Norman, your AI Bookkeeper, it takes minutes: Norman reads your receipts, matches them to bank transactions so no input VAT slips through, and emails you a week before the deadline and on the day, with your amount due and anything still missing. Norman always uses the current 2026 form, so you never track changes like the new field 500 yourself.

1. Set your tax settings. In your account's tax settings, choose your VAT frequency (monthly or quarterly), accrual or cash accounting, and add your tax number and federal state.
2. Connect your bank and upload receipts. Norman maps revenue and input VAT from bank transactions and receipts to the form fields, including reverse charge in 46, 47 and 67 and EU sales in 21 and 41.
3. Review the report. Under "Taxes", "Regular reports" shows one card per period. "Review and submit" shows every line with its form field in the "Position" column and the final payment. Norman shows you open transactions first.
4. Look at the preview. "Preview and submit to Finanzamt" sends the return to ELSTER as a test case and shows the transmission protocol as the Finanzamt would see it.
5. Approve. With "Submit to the Finanzamt", Norman submits the UStVA through the certified ELSTER interface; you do not need an ELSTER account of your own. You pay by direct debit, with "Pay now" from a connected account, or by transfer. With the tax autopilot, Norman builds each return at the end of the period and sends you the preview: one click and it is with the tax office.

You stay in control: nothing reaches the Finanzamt without your approval. Start for free: bookkeeping and the UStVA preview cost nothing. Filing starts at 9 € a month billed yearly for the self-employed, and comes with Max for UGs and GmbHs at 39 €. The full picture is on the Norman VAT return software page.