Information About Changes to Value-Added Tax (VAT)

Since Chrono24 is located in Germany, we are subject to EU law. The European Union's current VAT regulations apply to both EU and non-EU dealers. Therefore, please read through the information below to see if you are affected.

Please note that, due to the legal situation's complexity, the information we provide does not constitute tax advice. We strongly recommend talking to your accountant or tax advisor.

What to look out for

Please take note of which requirements apply specifically to you. Depending on your business location and where you ship goods from, you may be subject to different requirements.

For businesses located in the European Union

If your business is located in the EU and you ship goods from within the EU:

The EU-wide turnover threshold has been set at 10,000 euros.

Once an EU seller's total intra-EU cross-border sales of goods subject to standard taxation and shipped to EU end-users exceeds 10,000 euros in the previous or current calendar year, he or she must pay VAT in the EU destination country. Please note that this includes sales across all channels, online and offline, and not just sales on Chrono24.

On July 1, 2021, new VAT requirements for online marketplaces went into effect in Germany.
If you exceed the 10,000-euro threshold, you must proceed as follows:

Register for VAT in each EU member state where you ship goods; or,
Register for the One Stop Shop (OSS) scheme and provide us with the valid VAT number you used to register
And separately declare the destination country's taxes on the invoice and pay said taxes

Please enter your VAT and OSS information in the Market Portal.
Enter information now

As a marketplace, we are required to check that you are meeting your tax obligations.
Restrictions will be placed upon the accounts of dealers who are required to register for VAT in Germany but fail to provide a valid VAT number.
The requirement to submit a physical certificate according to section 22f of the German Value-Added Tax Law (Umsatzsteuergesetz, or "UStG") does not apply.

Always include the item's taxation method when creating a listing. You can choose between "Standard taxation" and "Margin tax scheme." Buyers will not be shown this information.

Based on the information you provide, we will use the destination principle for items subject to standard taxation that are shipped to an EU address, as long as the requirements are met. This means that the item price you submit will be displayed to potential buyers on the marketplace with his or her country's taxes already included if the buyer is located in the EU. Chrono24 neither retains nor pays these taxes.

You can find more information under "Displaying item prices."

Note: If you ship goods from a non-EU country to France on Monaco, please read the "Special case" section.

For businesses located outside the European Union

Since Chrono24 is located in Germany, we are subject to EU law. The European Union's current VAT regulations apply to both EU and non-EU dealers. If you ship items to Germany taxed and with duty paid, we require your German VAT number.
Please enter your VAT information in the Market Portal.
Enter information now

If your business is located outside the EU but you send goods located in the EU to a buyer outside the EU:

The "item location" should be the country from which you ship the item. Please enter the correct information in your listings.
You commit to only selling and shipping items from the EU if you previously correctly imported them into the EU.
Please also read the following section closely:

If your business is located outside the EU but you send goods located in the EU to a buyer also in the EU:

The "item location" should be the country from which you ship the item. Please enter the correct information in your listings.
Whenever you sell an item located in the EU to a buyer also in the EU, Chrono24 automatically calculates, collects, and pays the taxes to the destination country.
Upon completion of the transaction, we will transfer you payout of the sales prices minus the commission fee and the retained taxes.
Internationally active sellers should check how this will affect their business and adjust accordingly.
You commit to only selling and shipping items from the EU if you previously correctly imported them into the EU.
You may not send the buyer an invoice for this type of transaction.
Your shipment to Chrono24 is not subject to taxes in the EU.
Unfortunately, we cannot account for possible margin-scheme taxation: Chrono24 makes its calculations based on the destination country's full tax rate according to standard taxation.

If your business is located outside the EU and you ship goods from a non-EU country to the EU:

The "item location" should be the country from which you ship the item. Please enter the correct information in your listings.
If you ship goods from a non-EU country to France on Monaco, please read the "Special case" section.
When shipping goods with a material value up to and including €150 from a non-EU country, please read the section “Special case: Shipping goods with a material value up to and including €150 from outside the EU to the EU.”
If you ship an item worth more than €150 from outside the EU to Germany, you should ship the item taxed and with duty paid and provide us with your German VAT number. If you ship the item untaxed and without duty paid, the buyer will incur these costs.

Special case: Shipping goods from outside the EU to France or Monaco

We are required to collect and pay taxes for the destination country. Import taxes do not apply.

In order for the package to be cleared correctly by customs, submit the following information to the shipping provider:

Our French taxpayer ID number (TIN), as indicated on the shipping page for the transaction
Our business address
Buyer's name and address

Important: You may only use our taxpayer ID number for orders placed on Chrono24 and designated accordingly by us.

Special case: Shipping goods with a material value up to and including €150 to the EU from outside the EU

If the material value of an item (not including taxes, shipping, or insurance) is equal to or less than €150, we are required to collect and pay taxes for the destination country. Import taxes do not apply.

In order for the package to be cleared correctly by customs, submit the following information to the shipping provider:

Our IOSS (Import One-Stop Shop) number, as indicated on the shipping page for the transaction
Item price (not including shipping and insurance)
Order number

Prior to shipping, make sure that the shipping provider can transmit this information to the customs authority electronically. You may only use our IOSS number for orders placed on Chrono24 and designated accordingly by us.

You must not invoice the buyer for this order.

Displaying item prices

All sellers on Chrono24 are required to disclose whether their listing prices include taxes or not. Based on your business location, we have implemented default settings that you can find in your listing settings. If these settings are incorrect, please adjust them accordingly.

For dealers outside the EU: Buyers will still see the listing prices you set. Our long-term goal is to offer such price transparency across the entire platform and also display the correct taxes for you.

For dealers in the EU: If you include taxes in your listing prices, the tax rate you enter will apply to all current and future listings subject to standard taxation.
If you only offer items taxed according to a margin scheme, please still save the settings for the taxation method based on your business location. If you list an item subject to standard taxation in the future, the settings you enter will apply to that listing. Please also make sure to indicate whether the item is subject to standard or margin-scheme taxation in each listing.

How are taxes calculated, and what is paid to you?

If taxation according to the destination principle is activated:

If you include taxes in your item prices, we reduce the item price according to the tax rate you entered in your listing settings. After that, we apply the current tax rate of the destination country. That way, the buyer can see the correct price including the taxes required by their country.
If you do not include taxes in your listing prices, we apply the current tax rate of the destination country to the listing price.

If taxation according to the destination principle is deactivated:

We apply the current tax rate of the item's location. If this location differs from your business location, we reduce the item price according to the tax rate you entered in your listing settings and then apply the tax rate of the item's location.
These calculations do not apply to items taxed according to a margin scheme. The prices you enter will be shown to buyers unaltered.
Chrono24 does not collect or pay taxes for transactions involving an item located in the EU that is sold to a buyer also in the EU. The calculation we make serves only to facilitate price transparency on the marketplace.
Chrono24 does collect and pay taxes on the seller's behalf in certain circumstances. You can find these circumstances listed in the previous sections.
Chrono24 transfers you, the seller, the total price or the item price minus taxes (whichever is appropriate). The taxes are then paid to the relevant tax authorities.

Two simplified examples with the destination principle:

A German dealer lists a watch for €2,000. This price includes Germany's 19% VAT rate.

Chrono24 automatically calculates the watch's net price: €2,000 - 19% (€319) = €1,681

Chrono24 then automatically calculates how much the potential buyer would have to pay by applying his or her country's VAT rate to the net price. For example: If a French buyer views the listing, they will see a price of €2,017, i.e., the net price (€1,681) + 20% (€336) in VAT.

A dealer located in Spain lists a watch for €2,000. This price does not include any taxes.

Chrono24 automatically calculates how much the potential buyer would have to pay by applying his or her country's VAT rate to the net price. For example: If a French buyer views the listing, they will see a price of €2.400, i.e., the item price (€2,000) + 20% (€400) in VAT.

FAQ

Value-added tax or "VAT" is a tax applied to the purchase of certain goods and services. The tax is paid to the relevant tax authorities. This type of tax is common in most parts of the world, including the European Union. Sellers on Chrono24 often choose to include their country's VAT in their item prices.

You are responsible for conforming to VAT regulations. If you are unsure of your tax obligations, you should speak to a qualified tax advisor.

If you meet any of the five conditions below, you are required to register for VAT in Germany:

Your business is located or has a location in Germany.
You are a seller located in the EU, sell goods located in Germany, and ship those goods to German addresses.
You are a seller located in the EU, sell goods located in Germany, and ship those goods to an address in another EU member state. Furthermore, your total sales are below the EU-wide turnover threshold of 10,000 euros.
You are a seller located in the EU, sell goods from within the EU (but not Germany), ship those goods to private individuals in Germany, and have not registered for the OSS scheme in your home country.
You sell goods located outside the EU to buyers/customers in Germany, covering the taxes and customs duties yourself.

Tax office jurisdictions are laid out in section 1 of the Ordinance on Local VAT Jurisdiction for Traders Established Abroad (VAT Jurisdiction Ordinance – Umsatzsteuerzuständigkeitsverordnung (UStZustV)). The tax office in Berlin-Neukölln (Finanzamt Berlin-Neukölln) is responsible for all sellers in countries that are not listed in this regulation.

The seller must report his or her sales and calculate and pay taxes to the tax authorities on a monthly or quarterly basis (in what is known as an advanced VAT return or Umsatzsteuervoranmeldung). He or she must also file an annual VAT return (Umsatzsteuerjahreserklärung) according to section 18 of the German Value-Added Tax Law (UStG).

All advanced VAT returns and annual VAT returns must be submitted electronically to the tax authorities using the officially prescribed forms. Documents related to taxes shall be preserved and shared with the tax authorities upon request. [Source: bundesfinanzministerium.de]

If you register your business in Germany with the relevant German tax authorities, you will receive a tax number. This number usually applies to all types of taxes you are required to register for as a business, including value-added tax. You should also include this number in all communications with the tax authorities.

The tax number is between 10 and 13 digits long and consists exclusively of numbers separated by slashes ("/"). As soon as goods or services are sold to customers in the EU, you will need your German VAT identification number. It begins with "DE" followed by 9 numbers.

A margin tax scheme is a type of taxation applied to pre-owned and movable goods. It is intended to prevent an individual not entitled to a pre-tax deduction from having to pay full VAT upon reselling the corresponding goods. Unlike section 10 of the German Value-Added Tax Law (UStG), the taxable amount in a margin scheme is not the sum received from the service recipient but rather the difference between the sales price and price at which the seller acquired the item (see section 25a, paragraph 3 of the UStG).

As a reseller, one can generally decide to forgo margin-scheme taxation – regardless of who the buyer is. This option is no longer available if the seller determines the taxable amount according to the total difference for the taxable period (section 25a, paragraph 8(1) of the UStG). If the seller waives the opportunity to use a margin tax scheme for an individual case, the relevant sale will be subject to the general regulations laid out in the German Value-Added Tax Law.

The One Stop Shop scheme (or "OSS") is a simplified process for paying taxes in the destination country. OSS is not mandatory, as sellers can also choose to register for and pay VAT individually in each EU country to which they sell goods.

Regularly check that your transactions are not reported twice (OSS and local registration) or not at all! This is possible due to the law's complicated nature.

The customer has already paid value-added tax (VAT). Before you ship the item to the European Union, make sure the customer will not be charged additional taxes.

To do so, you should enter Chrono24's IOSS number under "Tax ID/VAT reg number/TINS number" on the customs declaration. If you cannot find this field, please contact your delivery service for more information. Chrono24 will provide you with its IOSS number during the transaction. You can find the IOSS number on the "Confirm shipment" page and in your order overview. Please note that Chrono24's IOSS number is strictly confidential and may only be used for the abovementioned purposes.