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For foreign companies with German VAT

Got a letter from a German Finanzamt?

Send us the letter and you get a plain-English read of it: what it is, what it wants from you, and the date it wants it by.

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Assessments, reminders, your Steuernummer, a questionnaire, an audit notice: anything the Finanzamt sends a foreign business.

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A licensed German tax advisor reviews your letter and sends you a fixed-price quote to deal with it. Within 24 hours on weekdays.

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For many letters, the read is all you need. We tell you honestly when nothing needs doing, and we never pitch you.

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Ask us anything about German VAT or the Finanzamt. A person answers within 24 hours on weekdays.

How it works

Honest about the AI.

No magic and no guessing. Here is exactly what happens to your letter.

01

Upload

Drop a PDF or snap photos of each page. If a photo is too blurry to read, we tell you before reading and ask for a clearer one. We never guess.

02

AI reads, code verifies

Our AI reads the letter, then code cross-checks every date and euro amount against the document. Anything we cannot read for sure is left out and flagged, never shown wrong.

03

Not every letter is real

Fake register and VAT-ID fee demands are dressed up as official post and aimed at newly registered companies. The read names the actual sender, lists the red flags it finds, and tells you not to pay on that document alone. It cannot certify a letter is genuine, and on a suspected fake we sell you nothing, because there is nothing to file.

For foreign companies · Amazon, eBay, Etsy, direct

Got a letter from a German Finanzamt?

Photograph it. You get a free instant English read of what it says, every deadline and amount it carries, in seconds, no signup. If it needs action, a licensed German tax advisor sends a fixed-price quote within 24 hours (weekdays). No subscription, no commitment, and nothing to pay for the quote until you accept.

For companies with German VAT matters. Private tax letters (gift, inheritance, or personal income tax) are outside our scope.

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Send us your letter.

We'll respond with a fixed-price quote within 24 hours (weekdays). You don't need the letter PDF to start. Describe what's happening (or what you think might be coming) and we'll quote either way. You pay nothing to receive the quote, and nothing if you decide not to proceed.

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Skip the form and email contact@vaytax.com directly. A licensed German tax advisor replies within 24 hours (weekdays), no obligation.

Most German tax letters have a 14-30 day response window. The clock started when you opened it.

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Free quote, pay nothing until you accept. A licensed German tax advisor replies within 24 hours (weekdays). You can add company details and upload the letter on the next step, optional.

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If you have one. Speeds up our quote, but not required to submit.
1-3 sentences is fine. We quote on questions too, not just letters. We'll ask follow-up questions if we need more.
    No PDF? No problem. Skip this upload and describe your situation in the box above. We quote on questions too, not just letters.
    Not sure if this is the right service? Read our explainer on fiscal representation or how the monthly subscription differs from a one-off letter response.
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    Submitted. We have your letter.

    A licensed German tax advisor will review your case and email a fixed-price quote within 24 hours (weekdays). We'll send it to your inbox.

    Your reference number: VTX-XXXXXXXX

    Submitted after 18:00 CET, on a weekend, or a German public holiday? Your quote arrives by the end of the next business day morning. contact@vaytax.com reaches the team directly if you need it sooner.

    Licensed German Steuerberater, handling foreign-seller VAT in-house
    EU data residency, Frankfurt-hosted. Foreign clients in 14+ countries. Records kept 10 years per § 147 AO.

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    What we handle

    Which letter did the Finanzamt send you?

    If your letter mentions any of these, you're in the right place. If it doesn't, send it anyway, we'll tell you whether it's something we can help with. Not sure which Finanzamt sent yours? Look it up by country →

    Quick answer · reviewed July 2026

    If a German Finanzamt has written to you, the letter is almost always one of a handful of things: an estimated tax assessment (Schätzbescheid), a payment or filing reminder (Mahnung), a request to file overdue VAT returns (Aufforderung zur Abgabe), a hearing notice (Anhörung), or a retroactive marketplace VAT demand (Amazon §25e). Each carries a short deadline, usually 14 days to one month. A licensed German tax advisor can read it, tell you in English exactly what it means, and respond to the Finanzamt on your behalf before the deadline. The standard German phrases these letters use are translated in our free guide Finanzamt letter phrases, decoded.

    Show the letters we see most often
    01 · Most common in 2026

    What is the Amazon retroactive VAT letter?

    Schätzbescheid · estimated assessment

    Amazon (or eBay, Etsy) reported your German sales to the Finanzamt. They sent you a tax bill based on those totals, usually covering 2022-2025, usually far too high. We file corrected returns based on your real numbers, and the actual bill is typically a fraction of the original estimate, often 60-80% lower.
    02 · Routine

    What does a payment reminder mean?

    Mahnung / Erinnerung · reminder / warning

    You missed a VAT filing or fell behind on a payment, and now they're asking for it. We respond, file the missing UStVA (VAT preliminary return), and request that the Verspätungszuschlag (late penalty) be reduced or waived. Most routine cases get it capped or removed entirely.
    03 · Time-sensitive

    What is an estimated assessment?

    Schätzbescheid · the Finanzamt picks a number for you

    The Finanzamt has lost patience and estimated your tax bill themselves, usually 2-5x what you actually owe. You have one month under §§ 347 ff. AO to file an objection. Miss that deadline and the estimate becomes the final bill, plus interest. We file the objection, request collection suspension, and submit corrected returns based on your real numbers.
    04 · Most common arrival

    What is a filing request?

    Aufforderung zur Abgabe · "where are your returns?"

    Your German VAT returns for one or more months haven't been submitted, and the Finanzamt is asking for them. There's usually a 14-day response window. We catch the filings up, request reduction of any Verspätungszuschlag (late penalty), and put your ongoing filings on a clean schedule so it doesn't repeat.
    05 · Hard deadline

    What is a hearing notice?

    Anhörung · 14 days before they escalate

    Before a Schätzbescheid issues, the Finanzamt sends you an Anhörung, a formal "give us your side or we'll estimate." Usually a 14-day window. If you respond properly, the Schätzbescheid never happens. If you don't, it does. We draft the response and file the missing returns before the deadline.
    06 · Before you can file

    What is the tax registration questionnaire?

    Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung · tax registration questionnaire

    The form that gets you a German tax number. The Finanzamt sends it once you apply, and it asks about your turnover, your activity and your bank details. Nothing is overdue yet, but the answers decide how often you have to file. We complete it and file it for you.
    07 · Your clock starts

    What is a tax number assignment letter?

    Steuernummer-Vergabe · your German tax number has been issued

    Good news rather than a problem: your German tax number has been issued. There is nothing to dispute, but your filing obligations start from this point, so the first return is now dated. We take the ongoing filings over from here if you want.
    08 · Adds up quietly

    What is a late-filing penalty notice?

    Verspätungszuschlag · late-filing penalty

    A penalty charged for returns filed late, billed on top of the tax itself. It is often applied automatically, and in routine cases it can be reduced or waived once the missing returns are actually filed. We file them and ask for the penalty to be reconsidered.
    09 · Often benign

    What is a VAT assessment notice?

    Umsatzsteuerbescheid · VAT assessment notice

    The Finanzamt confirming what has been assessed for a period. Frequently it simply matches the figures you already filed, and nothing needs doing. It is worth checking against your own numbers, because a deviation here is what later turns into a demand. Our read tells you which of the two you are holding.
    10 · Rare, take seriously

    What is an audit order?

    Prüfungsanordnung · audit order

    An announcement that your VAT will be audited, naming a start date and the periods in scope. It is not an accusation, but the date is binding and the correspondence should be handled properly. We quote for taking the audit correspondence on.
    11 · Needs a written reply

    What is an information request?

    Auskunftsersuchen · request for information

    The Finanzamt asking for documents or an explanation by a stated date, often about a single figure or transaction. Ignoring it is what escalates it. We draft the reply in German and send it before the deadline.

    Not on this list? These are just the ones we see most. The read handles any letter the Finanzamt sends you, and if it turns out to be something we cannot help with, we say so and point you somewhere that can.

    How it works

    How does the fixed-price quote work?

    1

    Upload your letter

    A photo of each page is fine (up to five files, PDF, PNG or JPG). You get a free instant English read the moment it uploads, no signup.

    Instant read
    2

    We review and quote

    If the letter needs action, a licensed German tax advisor reads it, reviews your case, and emails a fixed-price quote.

    24 hours (weekdays)
    3

    You accept, we respond

    You pay via Stripe and we file the response with the Finanzamt. You're copied on everything.

    3-10 business days
    The instant read

    What happens when you upload a Finanzamt letter?

    The read is automated, and it is a plain-English explanation, not tax advice. It tells you what kind of letter you have received, translates it, and lists every response deadline and euro amount it names, in seconds. It is free, and you do not need to create an account to see it.

    What the read shows

    The letter type (for example a Schätzbescheid, a Mahnung, a payment reminder, a filing reminder, or a registration query), an English summary and translation, and the deadlines and amounts printed on the page. Where a response window applies, you see the date, so nothing lapses while you decide what to do.

    When it will not guess

    On a poor-quality photo the read is honest about it rather than inventing figures: it flags low confidence and, when the scan is too weak to read the amounts reliably, it holds them back and points you to a human review instead of showing a number it is unsure of. A clearer photo usually fixes it.

    Is the letter even genuine?

    Not every official-looking envelope is from an authority. Fake "commercial register" mailings, styled like government post and demanding a fee to be listed, are a long-running German racket, and a newly registered company is the usual target: your details become public the day you register, and the first invoice-shaped letter often arrives within weeks. The read checks the things that separate the two, whether any Steuernummer or Aktenzeichen appears at all, who the sender actually is, and whether a fee is being demanded for a register entry. When it finds concrete red flags it lists them individually and tells you not to pay on that document alone.

    It cannot certify that a letter is authentic, and it does not claim to. What it will not do is sell you a response to a letter that never needed one: on a suspected fake there is no quote button, because there is nothing for us to file.

    Letters we do not handle

    Private tax letters (gift, inheritance or personal income tax) are outside our scope and are routed to a private-client advisor. Letters from other genuine authorities, the Zoll, the Deutsche Rentenversicherung, a Krankenkasse, are named for what they are rather than lumped in with the fakes.

    Customs post is the one exception worth calling out. A letter from the Zoll about your EORI number points you to our free EORI check, because that is a piece of paperwork we do file (the number itself is free at the Zoll and you can apply for it yourself; we file the application for €199 as part of a German VAT setup). A customs letter about duties, import VAT or clearance gets read and explained, but no sales pitch: that is customs work we do not take on, and import VAT is reclaimed later through your VAT return, not by replying to the Zoll.

    What comes next

    If the letter needs action, you can ask for a free fixed-price quote from a licensed German tax advisor, back within 24 hours (weekdays), and you pay nothing until you accept it. If it is really about missing VAT returns, we can take the ongoing filing over from €99/month. And if anything ever fails on our side, you still get the same free 24-hour quote promise that has always been here.

    Don't read German? You don't have to.

    Send us a photo of your letter in any condition. A licensed German tax advisor reads it, translates what it says in plain English (or your own language) inside the quote, and tells you what to do next. Most of our customers can't read these letters either: Polish, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish, French Amazon FBA and e-commerce sellers especially welcome.

    Translate my letter →
    Two services, often bought together
    Letter response from €200 net, ongoing filings €99/mo

    The letter response itself is one-off work, quoted based on what your case requires (typical range €200 to €2,000+ net depending on complexity). Drafting an Einspruch against a Schätzbescheid, negotiating a Verspätungszuschlag down, or filing a formal Anhörung response: that's separate from ongoing compliance. The €99/month subscription handles your monthly UStVA filings going forward, and months you've already missed can be caught up at €99 per past return. No registration fee if you already have a Steuernummer; if you need registration it is included in our €1,499/year all-in plan. Most foreign sellers who get a Finanzamt letter end up buying both: the response now, plus the subscription so the cycle does not repeat. You see both quotes, you decide.

    Quote in 24 hours (weekdays) · You pay nothing until you accept
    After the letter · Stay compliant

    Once the letter is handled, keep the cycle from repeating.

    Ongoing monthly UStVA filings from €99/mo, or the €1,499/year all-in plan if you still need German VAT registration. You see the quote first, you decide.

    See ongoing filings
    Common questions

    What should you know before you send?

    Show common questions

    Yes, that is exactly what this service does. The moment you upload the letter you get an instant automated plain-English summary, translation and deadline extraction. A licensed German tax advisor then reads the German original and quotes a fixed price for handling the response within 24 hours (weekdays). If you first want to decode the wording yourself, our free guide Finanzamt letter phrases, decoded translates the standard phrases these letters use.

    No, this is an intake channel. After we review your case, we send a fixed-price quote. If you accept, a licensed German tax advisor handles the response itself.

    It depends on your specific case. Quotes start at €200 net for a single direct response and reach €2,000 or more for a multi-year retroactive matter. You pay nothing until you accept our quote, and nothing to receive it.

    We send the quote within 24 hours (weekdays). After you accept, the work itself takes 3-10 business days. Some of that depends on how quickly the Finanzamt responds to our filing.

    No. All our correspondence with you is in English. We handle the German Finanzamt correspondence ourselves, in German, on your behalf.

    Send the question. Use the "What happened?" field to describe your situation, leave the file upload empty, and submit. We quote on questions too, not just letters. Common ones: "Amazon froze my listings over a VAT setup issue", "I think I should have been filing but didn't", "I want a second opinion on what my accountant said".

    We'll tell you, and we'll point you to better options where we can. No charge for the conversation.

    Yes. Mention the deadline in the "What happened?" field and we'll prioritize. If your deadline is within 48 hours, also email contact@vaytax.com directly with your reference number after you submit, and we'll move it to the top of the queue.

    Free tools while you decide

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