Usually 4 to 8 weeks from a complete application to the tax number (Steuernummer); some offices take longer, and the board below shows which. Which German tax office (Finanzamt) handles your company is fixed by your country, and each office has its own queue. This page lists what the offices are actually working on right now, from our own filings and our phone checks with them. Every figure carries the date we last checked it.
The typical range for a German VAT registration is 4 to 8 weeks from submission to tax number (Steuernummer). Individual offices can run materially longer. When we learn an office's real queue position, it goes on this board with its source and check date.
| Tax office | Handles companies from | Last checked | Current status |
|---|---|---|---|
| All tax offices | See which office handles your country in the Finanzamt lookup | Rolling | A typical registration takes 4 to 8 weeks from submission to tax number. Offices that run longer, and our own measured times, are listed here per office as soon as the page loads. |
Sources: phone checks with the tax offices and our own completed registrations, never estimates. An older check date is shown rather than hidden; it means nothing newer has been confirmed with that office.
Between 19 June and 15 October 2026 we sent 20 German VAT registrations to 12 different tax offices.
Method: submission is the day the registration questionnaire (Fragebogen) went to the office; finish is the day the tax number was issued. Completed and waiting cases are always shown together, because the finished ones are the fast ones. Offices with fewer than 3 completed cases are not shown on their own; today that is every office. Updated 15 October 2026.
We prepare and submit your tax registration questionnaire (Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung) to the office your country routes to. This part is fast.
Applications are processed in the order they arrive. Typically 4 to 8 weeks; the board above shows offices we know are running longer. The queue belongs to the office, and no provider can jump it.
The office issues your tax number (Steuernummer). We confirm it the day it reaches us, and your filings can start.
While you wait, we receive the office's post and check the status with them directly, and your dashboard shows exactly which stage your registration is in. You are never the one chasing a German authority.
Our half can. We prepare and submit your registration usually within a few working days once your documents are complete, and within one working day with priority registration. The office's half is its own queue: applications are processed in the order they arrive, and no provider can jump it.
What does slow a file down is something the office asks for and does not yet have: a document, a translation, or the answer to a follow-up question. The questions offices send are listed below, so you can have the answers ready.
You don't have to wait for the number. Import VAT on goods your company imports for its business from its declared start of activity in Germany can be deducted even before the tax number is issued, as long as the import is declared for your company and you receive the import VAT notice (Einfuhrabgabenbescheid) in your company's name for every shipment. The returns for the months you waited are filed once the tax number arrives. The full answer is in our FAQ.
Many registrations get a follow-up letter: the office has read the questionnaire and wants more before it issues the tax number (Steuernummer). These are the questions the offices that handle foreign companies sent our clients this autumn, grouped by topic. Answer fully and on time, and the file moves; leave a gap, and it waits.
| Topic | What they ask for | Asked by |
|---|---|---|
| Proof of your stock in Germany | The address of the German warehouse (an Amazon fulfilment centre counts), a warehouse contract or an Amazon inventory report, your Amazon merchant token or seller name, sometimes a Seller Central screenshot. One office does not process a registration without it. | Berlin International, Bonn-Innenstadt, Hameln-Holzminden, Kleve, Rostock |
| How your business works | Which goods, who you buy from and sell to, consumers or businesses, your own shop or marketplaces, your website, how the goods travel and who pays customs duty and import VAT, whether a supplier ships straight to your customer (chain transaction, Reihengeschäft). | Berlin International, Kleve |
| Your company and the people behind it | Proof of tax registration at home (the certificate, not just the number), the articles of association with a translation (a plain one is normally enough), every shareholder adding up to 100%, the company's capital, the director's home address from the registering authority, a sample invoice, the business bank account contract. | Berlin International, Bonn-Innenstadt, Rostock |
| Sales to consumers in other EU countries | A monthly listing of your EU sales to consumers, whether you passed the EUR 10,000 distance-selling threshold (Lieferschwelle) and when, and your One-Stop-Shop (OSS) registration. | Kleve |
| A presence in Germany | Office space, staff or equipment in Germany, and whether invoices are issued or contracts signed from Germany: the office is checking for a fixed establishment (Betriebsstätte). | Kleve |
| Reactivating an old number | From which date a deregistered number should be reactivated. The same office sets a deadline of about two weeks and deregisters the number when nobody answers. | Hannover-Nord |
Have these ready before you start: proof of your German stock, a short plain description of how your business works, your home tax registration certificate and your articles of association. Send documents as PDF: at least one office returns photos and Word files.
Source: the follow-up letters tax offices sent our clients after the registration questionnaire, September and October 2026, anonymised; no client is named. Every office asks a different set, and the lists change. Updated October 2026.
Every week between deciding and submitting is a week added to the calendar above. If you are still working out whether you need a German VAT number at all, the free check answers it in a minute.