VAT reverse charge checker for construction
Tells you whether a construction invoice shows VAT or moves it to the customer under §13b UStG in Germany or autoliquidation in France, and what the invoice must say.
VAT reverse charge checker for construction: run the calculator
Reverse charge check for a construction invoice
Set the figures for one invoice and the answer below follows in the wording that belongs on the document.
Who owes the VAT on this invoice
The customer owes the VAT under §13b UStG
- The invoice covers work on a building, the case described in §13b Abs. 2 Nr. 4 UStG.
- The customer supplies construction work himself, which is what §13b Abs. 5 UStG turns on.
- Net amount of the work€24,000.00
- VAT shown on the invoice€0.00
- Declared by the customer at 19 %, deducted again as input tax where the right is complete€4,560.00
- Amount the customer pays€24,000.00
- Wording the invoice must carry: Steuerschuldnerschaft des Leistungsempfängers.
- No deduction: the exemption certificate under §48b EStG is on file.
This check is a decision aid, not tax advice, and a doubtful case belongs with an adviser before the invoice goes out.
The rule behind §13b UStG and article 283-2 nonies
Written out: construction work on a building, invoiced to a customer who supplies construction work himself in Germany, or to the main contractor by its subcontractor in France, carries no VAT. The invoice total then equals the net amount, while the customer declares the net amount multiplied by the rate and deducts the same figure where his right to deduct is complete. Fail either condition and the supplier charges that product and collects the net amount plus the tax.
The German deduction is separate arithmetic on the same document. 15 % of the consideration, meaning the net amount plus any VAT shown, goes to the Finanzamt unless the supplier presents an exemption certificate under §48b EStG, or the payments to him stay under 5,000 EUR in the calendar year. What reaches his account is the consideration less that deduction.
VAT reverse charge checker for construction: what it answers
The United States levies no value added tax, so there is nothing to reverse-charge on an American job. The moment a builder invoices work carried out in Germany or France, the question arrives: does the invoice show VAT, or does the customer account for it? Germany moves the tax to any customer who supplies construction work himself. France moves it only inside a subcontract. The checker asks the questions that decide it and writes the answer as an invoice line.
Getting it wrong costs money in both directions. Charge VAT where the reverse charge applies and the customer cannot deduct it, so the amount sits with the tax office until the document is corrected. Miss the reverse charge as the customer and France adds a penalty of 5 % of the deductible tax under article 1788 A of the CGI. Germany puts a further obligation on the same invoice: the 15 % withholding under §48 EStG.
VAT reverse charge checker for construction: how the result is worked out
Two tests run in sequence. The invoice must cover construction work on a building — putting it up, repairing, maintaining, altering or demolishing it. Design, structural engineering and site supervision fall outside, and so does material delivered without installation. Then the customer is tested: in Germany, a business that supplies construction work itself; in France, only a main contractor receiving a subcontractor's invoice. Pass both and the VAT line reads zero, so the net amount is also the invoice total.
In Germany the customer declares 19 % of the net amount and deducts the same figure as input tax where he is entitled, so the cash effect is usually nil. The same document meets §48 EStG separately: without a valid exemption certificate the customer withholds 15 % of the consideration and pays it to the Finanzamt. In France the reduced rates of 10 % and 5.5 % need the customer's signed certification on the quote or invoice before it is issued.
VAT reverse charge checker for construction: what the result assumes
One invoice is treated as one supply. A document that mixes construction work with plant hire or a pure delivery has to be split first, and the check then runs again for each line.
The German test assumes the customer's status is documented: a valid USt 1 TG certificate from his tax office, or his written confirmation that construction work makes up at least 10 % of his worldwide turnover.
The withholding line uses this invoice as the amount. The 5,000 EUR de-minimis in §48 EStG counts every payment to the same contractor in the calendar year, so a small invoice can still fall inside it.
The rate is entered, not determined. Nothing here decides between 20 %, 10 % and 5.5 % in France; that depends on the age of the dwelling and on what the work does, and the supporting evidence has to be kept for five years.
The legal position is the one current in August 2026, and it is a decision aid rather than tax advice. VAT rules move: the French rate for fossil-fuel boilers changed in March 2025.
VAT reverse charge checker for construction: questions and answers
Does the United States have a construction reverse charge?
No. There is no value added tax at federal level at all. Construction is taxed through state sales and use tax, where the common pattern is that the contractor pays tax on materials at purchase while the improvement invoice carries none. Rates and treatment are set state by state.
What has to be written on a reverse charge invoice?
A German document carries the words Steuerschuldnerschaft des Leistungsempfängers and no tax line, under §14a Abs. 5 UStG. A French subcontractor writes Autoliquidation with article 283-2 nonies of the CGI beside the amount excluding tax. Both show the VAT numbers of supplier and customer.
Who decides whether the customer supplies construction work?
The German tax office does, by issuing the certificate USt 1 TG, which is valid for up to three years and binds both sides. Without it the supplier relies on written confirmation of the 10 % turnover test. A developer who only sells finished land is not covered.
VAT reverse charge checker for construction: use it on your own projects
Inside Home Builder Software the same calculation reads the project file, so the figure carries the budget, the awards and the invoices behind it instead of asking you to retype them.