The Federal Republic of Germany passed a law to combat VAT fraud in international ecommerce.
The new legislation is described and discussed. Ecommerce sellers will have to provide their
tax registration and a certificate issued by the competent tax authority that shows their VAT
compliance to platform operators. Otherwise platform operators are liable for VAT evasion of
the respective ecommerce sellers. Without providing a tax registration and the certificate
platform operators will not allow sellers to sell on their platforms anymore. The transition
period will be much shorter for overseas sellers than for EU sellers. Practical problems will
arise at the beginning likely. Suspension of accounts can be the consequence.
