7 December 2018
From 1 January 2019, the German Ministry of Finance will allow foreign companies holding call-off stock in Germany to avoid VAT registering in the country.
Call-off stocks are goods held in a country by a non-resident seller that are under the full control of one of their customers. These goods can then only be used by that customer and cannot be accessed or sold to any other businesses.
Currently, non-resident companies who sell goods in this way have to VAT register in Germany and charge VAT to their customer.
The new call-off stock decree will allow them to avoid a VAT registration in Germany and instead of charging VAT, they will be able to report a zero-rated intra-community sale (EC sale) to their German customer's VAT number when the goods are delivered.