Reverse charge invoice: wording, requirements and an example

What reverse charge means and when it applies.

Reverse charge means the customer, not the supplier, accounts for the VAT. You invoice the net amount without VAT. Your customer calculates the VAT at their own country’s rate in their VAT return and, if entitled to deduct input VAT, deducts the same amount in the same return, so for most businesses the result is zero.

The legal basis is Article 196 of the EU VAT Directive (2006/112/EC). It makes the business customer liable for VAT on services covered by Article 44, the general rule for services between businesses, whenever the supplier is not established in the customer’s country. Under Article 44, such services are supplied where the customer has established their business. Reverse charge therefore applies when:

• you are a business established in one EU country, for example Germany, and supply the service from there;
• your customer is a business acting as such in another EU country, usually shown by a valid VAT number;
• the service falls under the general rule, as most consulting, design, software, marketing, writing and translation work does.

Some services follow their own place-of-supply rules, so check them before you invoice: services connected with land or buildings (taxed where the property is), admission to events such as conferences and trade fairs (taxed where the event takes place), passenger transport, restaurant and catering services, and short-term hire of vehicles.

German small businesses under the Kleinunternehmer scheme (section 19 UStG) also invoice these services without VAT under reverse charge, because their exemption only covers sales taxable in Germany. The term “reverse charge” is also used for different regimes outside the EU system, such as the UK’s domestic reverse charge for construction services or reverse charge under India’s GST; this guide covers EU VAT only.

Not every invoice without VAT is a reverse charge invoice. The table shows the common cases for a business established in Germany.

Reverse charge invoice requirements: the checklist.

A reverse charge invoice contains the usual invoice details but no VAT. In addition, it shows your customer’s VAT number and the note “Reverse charge”. In Germany it must be issued by the 15th day of the month after the month in which you performed the service. Check every point before you send it.

• Your full name and address, and your customer’s full name and address.
• Your VAT identification number. In Germany this is the USt-IdNr. (DE plus nine digits); a German tax number (Steuernummer) is not enough here.
• Your customer’s VAT identification number, checked in VIES.
• The invoice date and a unique, sequential invoice number.
• The extent and nature of the services, with quantities and unit prices.
• The date of supply or the service period, for example “September 2026”.
• The net amount and any discount agreed in advance.
• No VAT rate and no VAT amount. If you want a line for it, write “VAT: not charged (reverse charge)”.
• The note “Reverse charge” or the national wording, in Germany “Steuerschuldnerschaft des Leistungsempfängers”.
• Issued no later than the 15th day of the month after the service (Article 222 of the VAT Directive, § 14a(1) UStG).

The content requirements come from Article 226 of the VAT Directive and, in Germany, from § 14 and § 14a UStG. For reverse charge supplies the invoicing rules of the supplier’s country apply (Article 219a of the Directive), so a German freelancer follows German rules even when the customer is in the Netherlands. For everything else that belongs on a German invoice, read how to write an invoice in Germany; a German-language version of the reverse charge rules is in the Ratgeber zur Reverse-Charge-Rechnung.

Reverse charge invoice wording you can copy.

The note itself only needs two words: “Reverse charge”, as Article 226(11a) of the VAT Directive puts it. A short explanation helps customers who are new to the term. On German invoices the legal wording is “Steuerschuldnerschaft des Leistungsempfängers” (§ 14a UStG), and the German tax administration accepts the English “Reverse charge” in its place.

Reverse charge

Reverse charge: VAT liability of the recipient (Article 196 EU VAT Directive).

Reverse charge: VAT to be accounted for by the recipient (Article 196 of Council Directive 2006/112/EC).

Steuerschuldnerschaft des Leistungsempfängers / Reverse charge

Each EU language version of the Directive has its own term for the same note, for example “Autoliquidation” in French, “Btw verlegd” in Dutch, “inversione contabile” in Italian, “inversión del sujeto pasivo” in Spanish and “odwrotne obciążenie” in Polish. You do not need to use your customer’s language: “Reverse charge” is accepted across the EU. The German tax administration lists the equivalents in all EU languages in Annex 8 to its VAT guidelines (Umsatzsteuer-Anwendungserlass), added by a BMF letter of 17 September 2025.

Avoid wording that describes a different treatment. “VAT exempt”, “0 % VAT” and “tax-free” describe exempt or zero-rated supplies, not reverse charge, and a bare legal reference such as “Art. 196” without the words “Reverse charge” does not replace the note.

Reverse charge invoice example: Germany to the Netherlands.

This is a complete reverse charge invoice from a freelance designer in Germany to a company in the Netherlands for work done in September 2026. It contains no VAT, both VAT numbers and the reverse charge note in English and German. It is dated 15 October 2026, the last day allowed under the German 15th-day rule.

INVOICE

From:
[Your name or business name]
[Street and number]
[Postcode] [City], Germany
VAT ID: [DE + 9 digits]
[Email]

Bill to:
[Client company B.V.]
[Contact person]
[Street and number]
[Postcode] [City], the Netherlands
VAT ID: [NL + 9 digits + B + 2 digits]

Invoice no.: 2026-0044
Invoice date: 15 October 2026
Service period: September 2026
Due date: 29 October 2026

Item 1: UX research and interface design
6 days × EUR 650.00 = EUR 3,900.00

Item 2: Usability test report (fixed fee)
1 × EUR 900.00 = EUR 900.00

Net amount: EUR 4,800.00
VAT: not charged (reverse charge)
Total amount due: EUR 4,800.00

Reverse charge: VAT to be accounted for by the recipient (Article 196 of Council Directive 2006/112/EC).
Steuerschuldnerschaft des Leistungsempfängers.

Payment terms: payable without deduction within 14 days of the invoice date, by 29 October 2026.

Bank details
Account holder: [Name]
IBAN: [IBAN]
BIC: [BIC]
Payment reference: 2026-0044

Thank you for your business.

Your Dutch customer accounts for the VAT under Dutch rules, where the same note reads “Btw verlegd”, and deducts it if entitled. You report the net amount in your German VAT return and in the EC Sales List. If the invoice is still open after the due date, see how to write an overdue invoice email.

Check the VAT number in VIES, then report the sale.

Check your customer’s VAT number in VIES, the European Commission’s VAT Information Exchange System, before you send the invoice. Select the country, enter the number, and VIES tells you whether it is valid; depending on the country, it also shows the registered name and address. Keep a record of the result with the invoice.

Under EU rules you may treat a customer as a business if they have given you their VAT number and you have confirmed that it is valid and belongs to them, unless you have information to the contrary. If you enter your own VAT number as the requester, VIES returns a consultation number that documents the check. In Germany the Federal Central Tax Office (Bundeszentralamt für Steuern) also offers a qualified confirmation that compares the name and address. UK numbers beginning with GB are not in VIES; HMRC has its own checker for them.

Each reverse charge sale also goes into a recapitulative statement, the EC Sales List, called Zusammenfassende Meldung in Germany. It lists each customer’s VAT number and the total net amount of the services you supplied to them, so the tax authorities can match your sales with your customers’ VAT returns (Article 262 of the Directive). In Germany you file it electronically with the Federal Central Tax Office by the 25th day after the end of each calendar quarter; monthly filing is also possible. Report the same sales in your German VAT return (Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldung). Businesses using the German small business scheme do not file the statement (§ 18a(4) UStG).

Common mistakes on reverse charge invoices.

Most reverse charge errors fall into a few groups: VAT charged anyway, missing or unchecked VAT numbers, a wrong note, a late invoice, and reverse charge used where it does not apply. Each one can delay payment, because your customer may ask for a corrected invoice, and some of them cost you money.

• Charging German VAT anyway. If you show German VAT on a reverse charge invoice, you owe it to the German tax office until you correct the invoice (§ 14c(1) UStG), and your customer cannot deduct it in their own VAT return.
• Missing VAT numbers. The invoice needs your VAT number and your customer’s. A German tax number (Steuernummer) is not enough.
• An unchecked VAT number. An invalid number weakens your evidence that the customer is a business, and without that evidence the service may be subject to German VAT. Check it in VIES before the first invoice and again from time to time.
• A wrong or vague note. “VAT exempt”, “0 % VAT” or a bare article number is not the reverse charge note.
• A late invoice. For work done in September, a German reverse charge invoice must be issued by 15 October.
• Reverse charge where it does not apply. Private customers, customers outside the EU, goods and the exceptions above, such as land-related services and admission to events, follow different rules.
• Forgotten reporting. A correct invoice still needs the entries in the EC Sales List and the VAT return.

Reverse charge invoices with Dunlio.

Dunlio adds the reverse charge note for you. When you set an invoice to reverse charge, the PDF shows no VAT, includes your customer’s VAT ID and prints the note in the invoice language, on English invoices “Reverse charge: VAT to be accounted for by the recipient (Art. 196 Council Directive 2006/112/EC)”.

It creates PDF invoices with line items and several VAT rates, the reverse charge note and the Kleinunternehmer note, in four designs with your logo and in eight languages, with sequential invoice numbers and your own prefix. It sends each invoice by email with the PDF attached and, if the invoice is not paid, follows up with a friendly reminder, a payment follow-up and a final notice.

Dunlio is free for up to 5 open invoices. It does not create e-invoices (XRechnung or ZUGFeRD) yet, does no bookkeeping and does not collect payments. See the free invoice templates or the Dunlio product page.

Frequently asked questions.

This guide is general information, not tax advice for your specific situation.