Small business invoice: required details and the exemption note

In Germany a small business invoice must contain at least (§ 34a sentence 1 UStDV): your and your customer's full name and address, your tax number, VAT ID or small business identification number, the invoice date, the quantity and usual trade name of the goods or the scope and type of the service, and the amount as one sum with a note that the small business exemption applies. If your customer issues the invoice as a self-billing credit note, the word "Gutschrift" is required.

§ 34a UStDV does not list a sequential invoice number or the date of supply; many businesses still show them because they make bookkeeping easier. For invoices up to EUR 250, the details of a small-amount invoice under § 33 UStDV are enough, again with the exemption note (section 14.7a(2) UStAE).

There is no prescribed wording. The Federal Ministry of Finance accepts an everyday phrase such as "steuerfreier Kleinunternehmer" if it clearly names the small business exemption (section 14.7a(1) UStAE). Common wordings are "Steuerfreie Kleinunternehmerleistung gemäß § 19 Abs. 1 UStG" or "Gemäß § 19 UStG wird keine Umsatzsteuer berechnet".

If you show VAT on an invoice anyway, you owe the amount shown under § 14c UStG until you correct the invoice towards your customer. You do not have to issue e-invoices: you may always send your invoices as an "other invoice", on paper or as a PDF (§ 34a sentence 4 UStDV).

In Austria small businesses may always use a simplified invoice under § 11(6) UStG 1994, whatever the amount: the issuer's name and address, quantity and description of the goods or type and scope of the service, date of supply, amount and invoice date. According to the Austrian business service portal, a note on the exemption belongs on it, for example "Umsatzsteuerfrei aufgrund der Kleinunternehmerregelung". You do not have to show a VAT number.