Invoicing abroad

Invoicing to United States: VAT, reverse charge and mandatory details

United States has no VAT in the European sense. You invoice without VAT — the place of supply is with your customer — and an EU reverse-charge note does not belong on the invoice.

This page is written for freelancers and small businesses in Germany and Austria. Pick your country below — the rules differ.

Rules for your country:

Do you charge VAT?

From Germany to a business in United States: no VAT. The place of supply is with the recipient (§ 3a Abs. 2 UStG — Leistungsort im Drittland), and United States levies no VAT for your customer to self-account.

Private customers: To private customers in United States you generally charge your own domestic VAT — reverse charge never applies to consumers. For electronically supplied services the place of supply can differ; that is the case worth checking.

The US levies no VAT or sales tax at federal level — there is simply no rate an invoice could show. (Federal excise taxes on particular goods do exist, but they do not touch your services invoice.) An EU reverse-charge note does not belong here: there is no US VAT for your customer to self-account.

The sentence for the invoice

No exact wording is prescribed; the note only has to be unambiguous. This is the customary form:

Note on the invoice
Nicht steuerbare sonstige Leistung im Inland (Leistungsort im Ausland)

Do you have to report it?

No. United States is not an EU member state, so the recapitulative statement does not apply at all — there is no customer VAT ID to report either.

Does United States’s e-invoicing mandate apply to you?

There is no prescribed e-invoice format for private US businesses — no counterpart to FatturaPA, KSeF or XRechnung. A PDF is the norm. Only if your customer is a US FEDERAL AGENCY do you normally submit through the Treasury’s Invoice Processing Platform — a web portal, not a file format.

The most common mistake

Your US client will almost certainly ask for a W-8BEN (sole trader) or W-8BEN-E (company). It is not a tax assessment but a declaration that you are not a US taxpayer — it stops 30 % withholding. You fill it in; your client keeps it on file rather than filing it.

Sources

  • IRS — Business taxes — https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/business-taxes
  • IRS — About Form W-8BEN-E — https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-w-8-ben-e

Verified on 2026-09-06. VAT rates and e-invoicing timetables change several times a year — this article is general information and does not replace tax advice.

Frequently asked questions

Do I charge VAT on an invoice to United States?
From Germany to a business in United States: no VAT. The place of supply is with the recipient (§ 3a Abs. 2 UStG — Leistungsort im Drittland), and United States levies no VAT for your customer to self-account.
What do I write on the invoice?
To private customers in United States you generally charge your own domestic VAT — reverse charge never applies to consumers. For electronically supplied services the place of supply can differ; that is the case worth checking.
Do I have to include it in the EC Sales List?
No. United States is not an EU member state, so the recapitulative statement does not apply at all — there is no customer VAT ID to report either.
Does United States’s e-invoicing mandate apply to me?
There is no prescribed e-invoice format for private US businesses — no counterpart to FatturaPA, KSeF or XRechnung. A PDF is the norm. Only if your customer is a US FEDERAL AGENCY do you normally submit through the Treasury’s Invoice Processing Platform — a web portal, not a file format.
What goes wrong most often when invoicing United States?
Your US client will almost certainly ask for a W-8BEN (sole trader) or W-8BEN-E (company). It is not a tax assessment but a declaration that you are not a US taxpayer — it stops 30 % withholding. You fill it in; your client keeps it on file rather than filing it.

Reverse charge is one switch in Billy

VAT zeroed, the prescribed note on the invoice, a VAT-ID field for the client — without looking the sentence up.

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Legal notice: general information, not legal or tax advice within the meaning of the German StBerG or RDG; no client relationship arises. No warranty as to accuracy, completeness or currency. Liability is excluded to the extent permitted by law; intent, gross negligence and injury to life, body or health remain unaffected. For your own case, your tax adviser or lawyer governs.