DE · Country and locale facts
Invoice format and locale facts for Germany
Use these defaults as a practical starting point for presentation. ISO/CLDR formatting facts are not legal or tax advice, and reviewed jurisdiction guidance is identified separately.
Currency & locale
EUR · de-DE
Paper & date
A4 · DD.MM.YYYY (DMY)
Language
de (official) · LTR
Text system
gregory calendar · latn digits
Why these defaults?
The country code comes from ISO 3166. Unicode CLDR supplies presentation-oriented locale, currency, paper, date, language, calendar, numbering, and direction metadata. Defaults reduce setup time; they do not decide what a valid document must contain.
Recorded official or regional-official language tags: de, frr.
Selected national claims reviewed
Document vocabulary and checks
German VAT invoice particulars in the structured component, eight-year VAT invoice retention, and the domestic-B2B structured e-invoice definition and transition boundary are reviewed from the current BMF FAQ. This generator does not create a validated structured e-invoice. Applicability, B2B status, cross-border treatment and exceptions remain transaction-specific checks.
Evidence snapshot: 1 official source · last reviewed 2026-07-20. This is scoped guidance, not a jurisdiction-wide compliance certification.
Tax labels: Umsatzsteuer (VAT). Business identifier labels: Umsatzsteuer-Identifikationsnummer (USt-IdNr.).
- Guidance: Where German VAT invoicing applies, every mandatory VAT invoice particular must be present in the structured part of a compliant e-invoice; confirm whether the transaction and current transition rules require an e-invoice.Evidence DE_BMF_ERECHNUNG · reviewed 2026-07-18 · review by 2027-01-18 · automation advisory only
- Required when applicable: For VAT purposes, German businesses keep a copy of each incoming and outgoing invoice for eight years. A compliant e-invoice's structured part must be preserved intact in its original form.Evidence DE_BMF_ERECHNUNG · reviewed 2026-07-18 · review by 2027-01-18 · automation advisory only
- Guidance: Since 1 January 2025, an e-invoice for the German domestic-B2B rules is a structured electronic invoice capable of electronic processing; a simple PDF is an 'other invoice'. Transition rules and exceptions apply. This generator does not create a validated structured e-invoice.Evidence DE_BMF_ERECHNUNG · reviewed 2026-07-18 · review by 2027-01-18 · automation advisory only
Identifier format guidance: See the relevant authority.
Reviewed official sources
- German Federal Ministry of Finance - mandatory e-invoice FAQLast reviewed 2026-07-18Registry record DE_BMF_ERECHNUNG
Registry provenance
- ISO 3166 Country Codescode-list · last checked 2026-07-15
- Unicode CLDR 48.2formatting-metadata · last checked 2026-07-15
- Unicode CLDR Territory-Language Informationformatting-metadata · last checked 2026-07-15
Other documents with Germany defaults
Each generator below requests Germany locale, currency, and paper defaults from the editor. Reviewed tax labels are applied only where supported; confirm the research status above before relying on jurisdiction-specific fields.