OSS process

The German Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) published a brief notification on 01/13/2022 with information on how to handle payment reminders from other EU nations. Numerous companies that participate in the one-stop-shop process (OSS process) have received current payment reminders for the third quarter of 2021 from other EU member nations. The BZSt is now providing recommendations for how business owners should handle such cases.

As of 07/01/2021, companies can take part in the OSS process. Revenues falling under the OSS regulation can be reported centrally and the tax paid to the BZSt.

The member nations have already been informed in advance that payments due to them would be submitted at a delay. However, not all member nations halted their automated dunning procedures, so company owners received dunning notices in these cases.

The BZSt recommends first reviewing whether the declared taxes for the third quarter of 2021 were transferred to the federal treasury in Trier in full, if a business has received a payment reminder from another member nation. In this case, the business owner should inform the member nation that the tax payment has already been made to Germany. Normally, the BZSt does not have to be informed about any payment reminders received.

Note: The OSS process is intended to simplify inter-European trade. It provides domestic companies with a central way to pay sales tax that they owe in other EU countries. This allows them to avoid registering in multiple member nations.