Germany 🇩🇪

XRechnung requirements and e-invoicing compliance for the German market.

Overview

Aspect	Details
B2G Mandate	Required (federal since 2020, states 2022-2024)
B2B Mandate	2025 (receiving), 2027-2028 (sending)
Required CIUS	XRechnung (mandatory for B2G)
Primary Scheme	0204 (Leitweg-ID for B2G), 9930 (VAT)
Government Portal	ZRE (federal), various state portals

B2B Mandate Coming

Germany has mandated B2B e-invoicing:

• 2025: All businesses must be able to receive e-invoices
• 2027: Businesses >€800k turnover must send e-invoices
• 2028: All businesses must send e-invoices

XRechnung CIUS

XRechnung is Germany's national extension of EN16931, mandatory for B2G.

Customization ID

<!-- XRechnung 3.0.1 (current version) -->
<cbc:CustomizationID>urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017#compliant#urn:xeinkauf.de:kosit:xrechnung_3.0</cbc:CustomizationID>

Profile ID

<cbc:ProfileID>urn:fdc:peppol.eu:2017:poacc:billing:01:1.0</cbc:ProfileID>

Identifier Schemes

Leitweg-ID (0204) — B2G Required

The routing ID for German public administration:

# Format: 04-xxx-xxxxx-xx (structure varies by state)
participant = {
    "scheme": "0204",
    "identifier": "04011000-12345-67",
    "name": "Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft",
    "country": "DE"
}

Structure:

• Coarse routing: Entity type + region
• Fine routing: Specific department
• Check digit for validation

VAT Number (9930) — B2B

For business-to-business invoicing:

# Format: DE + 9 digits
participant = {
    "scheme": "9930",
    "identifier": "DE123456789",
    "name": "Example GmbH",
    "country": "DE"
}

Looking Up Leitweg-IDs

Government entities are listed in:

• LeitID-Service (official lookup)
• Invoice portal documentation

Government Portals

Federal (ZRE)

All federal invoices go through the Zentrale Rechnungseingangsplattform:

# Sending to federal government
invoice = {
    "receiver": {
        "scheme": "0204",
        "identifier": "04011000-12345-67"
    },
    # Buyer reference is MANDATORY
    "buyer_reference": "991-12345-67"  # Leitweg-ID format
}

Requirements:

• ✅ XRechnung format
• ✅ Leitweg-ID as buyer endpoint
• ✅ Buyer reference (often Leitweg-ID or PO number)

State Portals

Each German state has its own portal:

State	Portal	Mandate Date
Baden-Württemberg	service-bw.de	01/2022
Bayern	eBill Bayern	04/2024
Berlin	ZRE	11/2020
Brandenburg	ZRE	11/2020
Nordrhein-Westfalen	eRechnung.NRW	04/2020

Invoice Requirements

Mandatory for XRechnung

<Invoice>
    <!-- XRechnung CustomizationID -->
    <cbc:CustomizationID>urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017#compliant#urn:xeinkauf.de:kosit:xrechnung_3.0</cbc:CustomizationID>
    
    <!-- CRITICAL: Buyer Reference (Leitweg-ID often used) -->
    <cbc:BuyerReference>04011000-12345-67</cbc:BuyerReference>
    
    <!-- German sender with VAT -->
    <cac:AccountingSupplierParty>
        <cac:Party>
            <cbc:EndpointID schemeID="9930">DE123456789</cbc:EndpointID>
            
            <cac:PartyTaxScheme>
                <cbc:CompanyID>DE123456789</cbc:CompanyID>
                <cac:TaxScheme>
                    <cbc:ID>VAT</cbc:ID>
                </cac:TaxScheme>
            </cac:PartyTaxScheme>
        </cac:Party>
    </cac:AccountingSupplierParty>
    
    <!-- Government receiver with Leitweg-ID -->
    <cac:AccountingCustomerParty>
        <cac:Party>
            <cbc:EndpointID schemeID="0204">04011000-12345-67</cbc:EndpointID>
        </cac:Party>
    </cac:AccountingCustomerParty>
</Invoice>

Banking Information

SEPA payment information is expected:

<cac:PaymentMeans>
    <cbc:PaymentMeansCode>58</cbc:PaymentMeansCode>
    <cbc:PaymentID>Rechnungsnr-2024-001</cbc:PaymentID>
    <cac:PayeeFinancialAccount>
        <cbc:ID>DE89370400440532013000</cbc:ID>
        <cbc:Name>Muster GmbH</cbc:Name>
        <cac:FinancialInstitutionBranch>
            <cbc:ID>COBADEFFXXX</cbc:ID>
        </cac:FinancialInstitutionBranch>
    </cac:PayeeFinancialAccount>
</cac:PaymentMeans>

German VAT

VAT Format

# German VAT: DE + 9 digits
def validate_german_vat(vat: str) -> bool:
    if not vat.startswith("DE"):
        return False
    if len(vat) != 11:
        return False
    return vat[2:].isdigit()

VAT Rates

Code	Rate	Description
S	19%	Standard rate
AA	7%	Reduced rate
Z	0%	Zero rate
E	0%	Exempt

Example XRechnung Invoice

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Invoice xmlns="urn:oasis:names:specification:ubl:schema:xsd:Invoice-2"
         xmlns:cac="urn:oasis:names:specification:ubl:schema:xsd:CommonAggregateComponents-2"
         xmlns:cbc="urn:oasis:names:specification:ubl:schema:xsd:CommonBasicComponents-2">
    
    <!-- XRechnung 3.0 -->
    <cbc:CustomizationID>urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017#compliant#urn:xeinkauf.de:kosit:xrechnung_3.0</cbc:CustomizationID>
    <cbc:ProfileID>urn:fdc:peppol.eu:2017:poacc:billing:01:1.0</cbc:ProfileID>
    
    <cbc:ID>DE-RG-2024-001234</cbc:ID>
    <cbc:IssueDate>2024-01-15</cbc:IssueDate>
    <cbc:DueDate>2024-02-15</cbc:DueDate>
    <cbc:InvoiceTypeCode>380</cbc:InvoiceTypeCode>
    <cbc:DocumentCurrencyCode>EUR</cbc:DocumentCurrencyCode>
    
    <!-- MANDATORY for XRechnung -->
    <cbc:BuyerReference>04011000-12345-67</cbc:BuyerReference>
    
    <!-- Seller (German company) -->
    <cac:AccountingSupplierParty>
        <cac:Party>
            <cbc:EndpointID schemeID="9930">DE123456789</cbc:EndpointID>
            <cac:PartyName>
                <cbc:Name>Beispiel GmbH</cbc:Name>
            </cac:PartyName>
            <cac:PostalAddress>
                <cbc:StreetName>Musterstraße 1</cbc:StreetName>
                <cbc:CityName>Berlin</cbc:CityName>
                <cbc:PostalZone>10115</cbc:PostalZone>
                <cac:Country>
                    <cbc:IdentificationCode>DE</cbc:IdentificationCode>
                </cac:Country>
            </cac:PostalAddress>
            <cac:PartyTaxScheme>
                <cbc:CompanyID>DE123456789</cbc:CompanyID>
                <cac:TaxScheme>
                    <cbc:ID>VAT</cbc:ID>
                </cac:TaxScheme>
            </cac:PartyTaxScheme>
            <cac:PartyLegalEntity>
                <cbc:RegistrationName>Beispiel GmbH</cbc:RegistrationName>
            </cac:PartyLegalEntity>
            <cac:Contact>
                <cbc:Name>Max Mustermann</cbc:Name>
                <cbc:ElectronicMail>rechnung@beispiel.de</cbc:ElectronicMail>
            </cac:Contact>
        </cac:Party>
    </cac:AccountingSupplierParty>
    
    <!-- Buyer (German government) -->
    <cac:AccountingCustomerParty>
        <cac:Party>
            <cbc:EndpointID schemeID="0204">04011000-12345-67</cbc:EndpointID>
            <cac:PartyName>
                <cbc:Name>Bundesministerium</cbc:Name>
            </cac:PartyName>
            <cac:PostalAddress>
                <cbc:StreetName>Regierungsstraße 1</cbc:StreetName>
                <cbc:CityName>Berlin</cbc:CityName>
                <cbc:PostalZone>10117</cbc:PostalZone>
                <cac:Country>
                    <cbc:IdentificationCode>DE</cbc:IdentificationCode>
                </cac:Country>
            </cac:PostalAddress>
            <cac:PartyLegalEntity>
                <cbc:RegistrationName>Bundesministerium</cbc:RegistrationName>
            </cac:PartyLegalEntity>
        </cac:Party>
    </cac:AccountingCustomerParty>
    
    <cac:PaymentMeans>
        <cbc:PaymentMeansCode>58</cbc:PaymentMeansCode>
        <cbc:PaymentID>RG-2024-001234</cbc:PaymentID>
        <cac:PayeeFinancialAccount>
            <cbc:ID>DE89370400440532013000</cbc:ID>
            <cbc:Name>Beispiel GmbH</cbc:Name>
            <cac:FinancialInstitutionBranch>
                <cbc:ID>COBADEFFXXX</cbc:ID>
            </cac:FinancialInstitutionBranch>
        </cac:PayeeFinancialAccount>
    </cac:PaymentMeans>
    
    <cac:TaxTotal>
        <cbc:TaxAmount currencyID="EUR">19.00</cbc:TaxAmount>
        <cac:TaxSubtotal>
            <cbc:TaxableAmount currencyID="EUR">100.00</cbc:TaxableAmount>
            <cbc:TaxAmount currencyID="EUR">19.00</cbc:TaxAmount>
            <cac:TaxCategory>
                <cbc:ID>S</cbc:ID>
                <cbc:Percent>19</cbc:Percent>
                <cac:TaxScheme>
                    <cbc:ID>VAT</cbc:ID>
                </cac:TaxScheme>
            </cac:TaxCategory>
        </cac:TaxSubtotal>
    </cac:TaxTotal>
    
    <cac:LegalMonetaryTotal>
        <cbc:LineExtensionAmount currencyID="EUR">100.00</cbc:LineExtensionAmount>
        <cbc:TaxExclusiveAmount currencyID="EUR">100.00</cbc:TaxExclusiveAmount>
        <cbc:TaxInclusiveAmount currencyID="EUR">119.00</cbc:TaxInclusiveAmount>
        <cbc:PayableAmount currencyID="EUR">119.00</cbc:PayableAmount>
    </cac:LegalMonetaryTotal>
    
    <cac:InvoiceLine>
        <cbc:ID>1</cbc:ID>
        <cbc:InvoicedQuantity unitCode="HUR">10</cbc:InvoicedQuantity>
        <cbc:LineExtensionAmount currencyID="EUR">100.00</cbc:LineExtensionAmount>
        <cac:Item>
            <cbc:Description>IT-Beratung</cbc:Description>
            <cbc:Name>Beratungsleistung</cbc:Name>
            <cac:ClassifiedTaxCategory>
                <cbc:ID>S</cbc:ID>
                <cbc:Percent>19</cbc:Percent>
                <cac:TaxScheme>
                    <cbc:ID>VAT</cbc:ID>
                </cac:TaxScheme>
            </cac:ClassifiedTaxCategory>
        </cac:Item>
        <cac:Price>
            <cbc:PriceAmount currencyID="EUR">10.00</cbc:PriceAmount>
        </cac:Price>
    </cac:InvoiceLine>
</Invoice>

GoRoute XRechnung Validation

GoRoute validates XRechnung-specific rules:

response = requests.post(
    "https://app.goroute.ai/peppol-api/api/v1/validate",
    headers={"X-API-Key": "your_api_key"},
    data=invoice_xml
)

# XRechnung-specific validations:
# - BR-DE-1: Buyer reference mandatory
# - BR-DE-2: Leitweg-ID format check
# - BR-DE-3 to BR-DE-26: German business rules
# - XRechnung schematron validation

B2B Mandate Preparation

What to Do Now

1. Register on Peppol to receive invoices
2. Update accounting systems to process e-invoices
3. Test with partners before mandate dates
4. Archive digitally (GoBD compliance)

Timeline

Resources

• KoSIT XRechnung
• Leitweg-ID Lookup
• ZRE Portal
• GoBD Guidelines

Next Steps

• Belgium Guide
• XRechnung Validation
• Registration