Set up and export sales VAT advance notifications
A sales VAT advance notification is an XML file that you can use to report VAT to the German tax authorities on the Elektronische Steuererklärungen (ELSTER) online portal. Business Central generates an XML file with tax and base amounts, and information about your company in the format and layout that German tax authorities require.
Note
Most of the functionality is included in the ELSTER VAT Localization for Germany extension. Make sure that this is installed in your Business Central. For more information, see Customizing Business Central Online Using Extensions.
Set up and export sales VAT advance notifications
To create valid sales VAT advance notification, you must set up the following information:
- The company registration information and tax office information.
- Basic sales VAT advance notification on the Electronic VAT Decl. Setup page.
- The VAT statement.
To set up company information
Choose the
icon, enter Company Information, and then choose the related link.On the Company Information page, fill in the fields. Hover over a field to read a short description.
Specifically for sales VAT advance notifications, in the VAT Representative field, enter the contact person for VAT-related information.
Choose the OK button.
To set up the electronic VAT declaration
- Choose the icon, enter Electronic VAT Decl. Setup, and then choose the related link.
- Fill in the fields as described in the following table.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Sales VAT Adv. Notif. Nos. | Choose the number series to use to assign identification numbers to new sales VAT advance notifications. |
| Sales VAT Adv. Notif. Path | Enter the path and name of the folder where you want to store the XML files. |
| XML File Default Name | Enter the name of the file. |
To set up a VAT statement for sales VAT advance notifications
Choose the
icon, enter VAT Statement, and then choose the related link.On the VAT Statement page, in the Name field, choose the drop-down arrow.
On the VAT Statement Names page, in the line for the appropriate VAT statement name, select the Sales VAT Adv. Notification field.
Note
The VAT statement must have a VAT statement line for each key figure required by the tax authority, where the Row No. field contains the key figure and the Amount Type field specifies whether this is a base amount or a tax amount. Ask your tax office if you have questions concerning the key figures and their definition.
Choose the OK button.
To create an XML document for Sales VAT advance notification
Choose the
icon, enter Sales Vat Advanced Notification List, and then choose the related link.On the Sales Vat Advanced Notification List page, choose the New action.
On the Sales VAT Adv. Notif. Card page, fill in the fields. Hover over a field to read a short description.
Caution
If you have submitted a sales VAT advance notification as a test notification by selecting the Testversion field, you cannot change it into a real notification later. The tax authority will not accept the same XML file if it is submitted with the Testversion field cleared.
Optionally, choose the Preview statement action to see a VAT statement that shows the data that will be in the XML that you submit to the ELSTER portal. This view shows an amount for each element in the XML file in a human-readable format.
Note
In versions older than version 19.3 and other updates that are made available in January and February 2022, the Sales VAT Adv. Notif. Card page shows fields and actions based on deprecated functionality in both the ELSTER portal and Business Central. Specifically fields that are tied to stylesheets are no longer in use, because the ELSTER portal no longer provides such stylesheets.
Choose the Create XML-File action.
On the Create XML - VAT Adv. Notif. page, in the XML-File field, choose either the Create or the Create and Export option.
If you choose the Create and Export option, the XML file is generated and saved to your device. If you choose the Create option, data is generated in Business Central as an XML file when you choose the Export action on the Sales VAT Adv. Notif. Card page.
Choose the OK button.
After the sales VAT advance notification document is created, all fields in the Sales VAT Adv. Notif. Card page can no longer be modified, except the Description field, because they define the content of the XML document. If you have created an XML document and want to create a new XML document for the same period without transmitting the existing document to the tax authority, you must delete the existing XML file and then create the new document.
See also
VAT Reporting
Germany Local Functionality
Customizing Business Central Using Extensions