E-Rechnung in Shopify: XRechnung and ZUGFeRD for B2B sales in Germany (with sample invoice)

If your Shopify store sells to businesses in Germany, the PDF invoice from the order will soon no longer be enough. Since 2025 every German business must be able to receive e-invoices (E-Rechnung), and by 2028 issuing them becomes mandatory. This short guide explains what XRechnung and ZUGFeRD require from a store, the deadlines, the data the invoice must carry, what happens with returns, and gives you a real sample invoice to download.

Who the German e-invoicing mandate applies to

The obligation covers sales between businesses that are both established in Germany (Section 14(2) of the German VAT Act, UStG). An e-invoice is an invoice in a structured format based on the European standard EN 16931 that the customer's software can read without retyping. A PDF sent by email is not an e-invoice; German law calls it an "other invoice".

Sales to consumers are not affected. Invoices up to 250 euros and invoices from small businesses under the Kleinunternehmer scheme may still be issued as other invoices. Every business, however, must be able to receive an e-invoice.

Deadlines: from 2025 to 2028

The transition periods are set out in Section 27(38) UStG:

  • Since 1 January 2025: all businesses must be able to receive e-invoices.
  • Sales up to 31 December 2026: paper or PDF invoices are still allowed (PDF only if the customer agrees).
  • Sales in 2027: that exception only applies if your total turnover in the previous year did not exceed 800,000 euros.
  • From 1 January 2028: all businesses issue e-invoices to other businesses in Germany.

The German Federal Ministry of Finance explains the details in its guidance letter of 15 October 2025 (in German).

XRechnung or ZUGFeRD?

Both meet EN 16931 and are accepted in B2B:

  • XRechnung is pure XML with additional German rules. There is no document to look at: the accounting software reads it. Public-sector buyers require it.
  • ZUGFeRD is a normal, readable PDF (PDF/A-3) with the XML embedded. It counts as an e-invoice from version 2.0.1, except in the MINIMUM and BASIC-WL profiles.

For a store, the simplest option is to create both files for every order: the customer uses whichever their software handles.

What data the e-invoice must contain

The mandatory details are the same as for any German invoice (Section 14(4) UStG), just placed in the right XML fields:

  • Your tax number or your VAT ID, and the name and address of both you and the customer.
  • The customer's VAT ID when you sell VAT-free to a business in another EU country or the reverse charge applies (Section 14a UStG). Check it in VIES first, for example with our free VAT number checker.
  • Invoice number (sequential, without gaps), invoice date and date of supply.
  • Quantity and description of the items, net amount per VAT rate, VAT rate and VAT amount (or the reason for the exemption).
  • Buyer reference (field BT-10). XRechnung always requires it. For public authorities it is the Leitweg-ID (routing ID); without it the invoice cannot be delivered (Section 5 ERechV, together with bank details, payment terms and an email address). For business customers the order number or the reference the customer gives you is enough. If it is missing, the invoice is still valid for VAT purposes (Ministry of Finance, para. 35a), but the customer's software may reject it.

Returns and refunds: the credit note

A return changes the taxable amount (Section 17 UStG). According to the Ministry of Finance, this does not require a corrected invoice (para. 51a). Your customer, however, needs a document to adjust their input VAT. That is why stores issue a credit note for refunds: an e-invoice of type 381 that refers to the original invoice and lists the refunded items with their VAT.

Two things worth knowing:

  • In German VAT law a "Gutschrift" (Section 14(2) sentence 5 UStG) is something else: self-billing issued by the buyer. The credit note from your store is a commercial credit note.
  • If an e-invoice really has to be corrected (wrong data), the correction must also be an e-invoice. An email with the right data is not enough.

Download a sample: invoice and credit note

Our app created these files from a sample order: the (fictitious) Muster Möbel GmbH in Berlin sells to Beispiel Büro GmbH in Stuttgart, with 19% and 7% VAT and shipping. One item is then returned.

German versions of the PDFs: Rechnung and Gutschrift. All files pass the reference checks: the KoSIT validator with the XRechnung 3.0.2 configuration for the XML files and Mustang (with veraPDF) for the PDFs. Open the PDF in any reader and you see an ordinary invoice; the accounting software reads the embedded XML instead.

How your Shopify store creates XRechnung and ZUGFeRD

Shopify does not create EN 16931 invoices. With our app LG e-Invoice XRechnung ZUGFeRD it works like this:

  1. Install the app and enter your company details: VAT ID or tax number, address, contact and invoice number sequence.
  2. Choose when to invoice: on payment, on fulfillment or manually.
  3. Turn on the cart block so business customers can enter their company name, VAT ID and, for public authorities, the Leitweg-ID.

From then on every order gets its ZUGFeRD PDF and its XRechnung, and every refund its credit note referring to the invoice. For VAT-free sales to businesses in other EU countries, the app adds the right wording and VAT category. You can download all files as a ZIP for your accountant. The app does not send anything to the authorities: in Germany, sending the invoice by email is enough. More about the app on its page on our site.

This guide is for information only and is not tax advice. Legal status: 23 October 2026.

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