VAT ID number in Germany?

[Kaya49]

Hey guys,
German eBay wants a VAT number from the first of July on.
Do you guys have a solution for this?
I don’t think That providing a **** VAT will work since they work with multiple governmental institutions.
So what to do?
Taking a VAT from someone else? But what if that guy finds out I’m using his VAT? probably will sue eBay and eBay sues my stealth acc and if they track down the money they will probably somehow get me. 😅

[GreenBean]

Check the German website and see what you could do.

[Aguero]

Originally Posted by Kaya49

Hey guys,
German eBay wants a VAT number from the first of July on.
Do you guys have a solution for this?
I don’t think That providing a **** VAT will work since they work with multiple governmental institutions.
So what to do?
Taking a VAT from someone else? But what if that guy finds out I’m using his VAT? probably will sue eBay and eBay sues my stealth acc and if they track down the money they will probably somehow get me. 😅

Why don't you sell as non-German seller ? VAT threshold will be 10,000 Euro from 1 July for individuals that sell on eBay.de from EU countries.

[Kaya49]

Originally Posted by Aguero

Why don't you sell as non-German seller ? VAT threshold will be 10,000 Euro from 1 July for individuals that sell on eBay.de from EU countries.

Hmm is that Hard to sell as a non German account?
Not sure if I get suspended faster if I’m not in Germany
Im selling digital products

[Kaya49]

Originally Posted by GreenBean

Check the German website and see what you could do.

Ye I know that mate but what happens if the guy I use the ID of finds that out?

[walkingupwards]

You can't use a ⊗⊗⊗⊗ VAT number and here is why... eBay and the German government have setup a special software that will double-check the following info:

Name associated with VAT number + Address


So if you give eBay a ⊗⊗⊗⊗ number, the system will flag you and the account will be frozen.


There is no solution to this, stealth in France, Germany, UK and few other countries is done on eBay.

[Aguero]

Originally Posted by Kaya49

Hmm is that Hard to sell as a non German account?
Not sure if I get suspended faster if I’m not in Germany
Im selling digital products

Or you can register on other eBay site and sell on eBay.de

It's not so hard. I'm not familiar with digital stuff, but know it's high risk everywhere.

[Aguero]

Originally Posted by walkingupwards

There is no solution to this, stealth in France, Germany, UK and few other countries is done on eBay.

You mean that Germans, British and French are unable to create stealth accs or everyone can't make stealth on these eBay sites ?

[Kaya49]

Originally Posted by walkingupwards

You can't use a ⊗⊗⊗⊗ VAT number and here is why... eBay and the German government have setup a special software that will double-check the following info:

Name associated with VAT number + Address


So if you give eBay a ⊗⊗⊗⊗ number, the system will flag you and the account will be frozen.


There is no solution to this, stealth in France, Germany, UK and few other countries is done on eBay.

I could still take any VAT and pretend it to be mine and also take the adress to be honest but I guess that’s pretty risky not to get ******

[walkingupwards]

Originally Posted by Aguero

You mean that Germans, British and French are unable to create stealth accs or everyone can't make stealth on these eBay sites ?

I am saying that starting from the 1st of July 2021 there is no way to sell in Germany on eBay unless you have a valid VAT number attached to your account, by valid I mean it should be yours because it will be double-checked with the German ministry of finance.

[walkingupwards]

Originally Posted by Kaya49

I could still take any VAT and pretend it to be mine and also take the adress to be honest but I guess that’s pretty risky not to get ******

The only way this would work is if your eBay account is registered with the info that belongs to that VAT number (Name + Address).


European governments are very hawkish when it comes to taxes.

[Aguero]

Originally Posted by walkingupwards

I am saying that starting from the 1st of July 2021 there is no way to sell in Germany on eBay unless you have a valid VAT number attached to your account, by valid I mean it should be yours because it will be double-checked with the German ministry of finance.

Thank you. Did I miss something important ? I'm reading this information on eBay.de site:

Who is required to provide a VAT ID in Germany as of July 2021?
As a seller, you are typically required to register for the German value added tax if you meet one of the following conditions:

- You are a seller who resides in Germany.

- You sell goods that are stored in Germany.

- You sell goods to private individuals in Germany and your business is established in Europe. You ship these goods from another EU country. You have total sales from all sales channels within Europe in excess of 10,000 Euro per year. You do not participate in a special taxation process for intra-Community distance sales in another EU member country (One-Stop-Shop, OSS) and declare your German sales there.

[Kaya49]

Originally Posted by walkingupwards

The only way this would work is if your eBay account is registered with the info that belongs to that VAT number (Name + Address).


European governments are very hawkish when it comes to taxes.

Exactly but won’t they find that out? I mean the persons we would use.. I mean they would get a tax statement after a year or so.. or won’t they get a notification till we reach 20k?

[Kaya49]

Originally Posted by Aguero

Thank you. Did I miss something important ? I'm reading this information on eBay.de site:

Who is required to provide a VAT ID in Germany as of July 2021?
As a seller, you are typically required to register for the German value added tax if you meet one of the following conditions:

- You are a seller who resides in Germany.

- You sell goods that are stored in Germany.

- You sell goods to private individuals in Germany and your business is established in Europe. You ship these goods from another EU country. You have total sales from all sales channels within Europe in excess of 10,000 Euro per year. You do not participate in a special taxation process for intra-Community distance sales in another EU member country (One-Stop-Shop, OSS) and declare your German sales there.

I mean ye but people won’t buy that much if your location is somewhere else...

[walkingupwards]

If you think these new MP rules are intrusive, wait until a global digital ID becomes the new form of identification. The world is moving into a dystopian digital-tyranny pretty fast.

[Imisspaypal]

I am also being required to update a VAT number. I guess this is really the end of the road. I have a strategy that I hope it works and that will keep me "alive" selling and paying my bills as ebay is my only way of income.
I will change the information on my most important account to my real information. After that if everything went smooth, I will start creating more ebay accounts with the same real info (ebay allows anyone to have more than 1 account if you follow some rules like not selling the same type of items on them). Then I will slowly switching my entire business to my real info. Unfortunately I will abandon some of my business as although items are 100% legit they are branded and kind of risky. The only downside of this strategy is that I will have to be 10x more cautious on the health of all the accounts, as if 1 goes down, probably all my business goes down.

I don't understand how can we (legit selllers) be the reason ebay makes money, but we are always afraid that ebay itself kicks us out. I am having really bad sleeping nights as I wonder if this is the correct strategy to do. :(