Are you a small business claiming the VAT exemption under the Kleinunternehmerregelung? You can declare this in your Steady backend, and we won’t add any VAT share to your payout that you’d otherwise have to pass on to the tax office.
Even so, you might notice that your credit-note invoice still states that your gross proceeds include VAT. Here’s why — and what it means for you.
Why VAT still appears on your invoice
The small business exemption applies to you — not to Steady. As the platform that handles memberships for several thousand media makers, our revenue is far too high to qualify for the Kleinunternehmerregelung. We’d gladly help, but we have to stay within Germany’s legal framework and can’t pass on advantages that don’t apply to us.
That’s why we’re legally required to charge VAT on the memberships we sell and manage for you. We pay this VAT to the tax office automatically.
A few tips to soften the blow
When you set your prices, remember to factor in commission, transaction fees and VAT. Don’t make the mistake of setting them too low.
Because Steady operates as a larger platform, we can take a lot off your plate when we manage your memberships: there’s no backend or payment process to build, no individual invoices to write and no data protection to worry about.
You may be a small business today, but in the long run you probably won’t stay small. Steady helps you build a stable income from your community, which we expect will grow your reach — and, in time, grow you out of the small business exemption. That’s when it matters most to have a partner who also supports you on VAT.
Your work is worth something to a lot of people, and our mission is to turn that into a real amount in your account. Taxes are a necessary evil — but here too, we want to take as much off your shoulders as we can.
The current thresholds (since 1 January 2025)
Under German law (§ 19 UStG), you can use the small business exemption if your revenue did not exceed €25,000 in the previous year and does not exceed €100,000 in the current year. If you cross the €100,000 threshold during the year, the exemption ends from that point on. (Until the end of 2024, the thresholds were €22,000 / €50,000.) Please check the details with your tax advisor – this article is not tax advice.
Please note that we’re not able to provide tax advice. If you have questions about your individual tax situation, please reach out to a tax advisor.
Still have questions about how Steady handles VAT? Read How Steady deals with VAT or email us at [email protected].