Promoting a concert or event in Germany from outside the EU
Your company sits in the US, Canada, the Gulf or Turkey and you sell tickets for a show in Berlin, Cologne or Frankfurt. Germany then expects VAT on every ticket, a 15.825% withholding on the artist's fee, a GEMA licence and possibly the artists' social levy. This guide lists each rule, who owes it and when, with a link to the official text.
What a non-EU promoter owes in Germany
Six obligations, who carries them and when they fall due.
| Obligation | Rule | Who owes it | When | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ticket VAT | 7% on concert admission, 19% on most other events | The company selling the tickets | Quarterly OSS return | §12 UStG |
| Artist withholding | 15.825% of the gross fee | Whoever pays the artist, even from abroad | 10th of the month after the quarter of payment | §50a EStG |
| Tax on your own ticket income | German-source income, can be assessed at 15.825% of gross takings | The foreign organiser | On assessment by the tax office | §49 EStG |
| Music rights | GEMA licence, tariff U-K | The organiser (Veranstalter) | Licence before the event, report after it | §42 VGG |
| Artists' social levy (KSK) | 4.9% in 2026, 5.0% in 2027 | Organiser or German partner, to confirm | 31 March of the following year | KSK |
| Entry and work | Schengen visa by nationality, work exemption up to 90 days | Each artist and crew member | Before travel | §22 BeschV |
The rest of this page takes each line in turn. Rates and dates are those in force on 4 November 2026.
VAT on tickets sold for a German event
The venue decides the country. The type of event decides the rate.
Admission to a concert, festival, conference or sports event is taxed where the event takes place. A ticket for a show in Hamburg carries German VAT whether the buyer lives in Munich, Riyadh or Los Angeles, and whether your company is based in Germany or not (§3a(3) no. 3(a) and no. 5 UStG).
Concert admission is taxed at the reduced rate of 7%, including a dearer ticket that only buys a better seat. Parking and merchandise sold by the organiser are taxed at 19%. A VIP package that bundles food, drinks or other services is split according to what it contains (§12(2) no. 7(a) UStG, UStAE 12.5). Conference, trade-fair and most sports-event tickets fall under the standard rate of 19% (§12(1) UStG).
Tickets sold to the public
A company with no establishment in the EU declares this VAT through the non-Union One-Stop Shop: one registration, one quarterly return in one EU country, covering every EU country where you hold events. Germany does not require a fiscal representative (§18i UStG, §22a UStG).
Tickets sold to companies
For a business buyer, the invoice shows no VAT and the buyer accounts for it under the reverse charge, with the mention "Steuerschuldnerschaft des Leistungsempfängers". If you charge 7% anyway, you owe it. These sales stay outside the OSS (§13b UStG).
Registering for the non-Union OSS
The scheme applies from your first sale if you register by the 10th day of the month after it (art. 57d of Regulation 282/2011). You choose the EU country you register in. Germany first asks for a BOP access certificate sent by post, then processes the registration, usually within five working days (BZSt). Ireland runs a direct online portal (Revenue). The return and the payment are due by the end of the month after each quarter, and the deadline does not move for weekends (European Commission).
Under German law, VAT declared through the scheme arises in the quarter in which the event takes place (§13(1) no. 1(f) UStG). How that wording fits EU rules on advance payments, for tickets sold in one quarter for a show in the next, has not been settled. Ask the BZSt before the first return if your on-sale spans two quarters.
Change on 1 January 2027
Until 31 December 2026, the EU VAT Directive limits the non-Union scheme to customers established or living in the EU. Tickets bought by UK, Gulf or US residents for a German show fall outside it under the Directive, while the German text does not state this condition clearly. From 1 January 2027, the amended article 359 covers all non-business customers (Directive (EU) 2025/516). For a 2026 date with many foreign buyers, confirm the treatment with the BZSt.
Costs, merchandise and production invoices
- German VAT on your costs (hotels, venue hire) is refunded by the BZSt on request, filed by 30 June of the following year (§18(9) UStG, §61a UStDV).
- Sound, lighting, security and production services billed to a business established outside the EU generally carry no German VAT, because business services are taxed where the customer is established. VAT charged in error cannot be recovered (§15 UStG).
- Merchandise and drinks you sell yourself at the venue are not covered by the OSS. They need a regular German VAT registration with the tax office competent for your country, which is the Finanzamt Bonn-Innenstadt for US companies (§1 UStZustV).
Artist withholding tax under §50a EStG
Applies to artists, athletes and other performers who are not resident in Germany.
When a performer resident outside Germany is paid for a show in Germany, the payer withholds 15% income tax plus the 5.5% solidarity surcharge on it, so 15.825% of the gross fee. Travel and accommodation reimbursed at actual cost stay out of the base. For a performer outside the EU and EEA, no other cost is deductible. The withholding also applies when the fee goes to the artist's own company, and it is due on advances as well (§50a(1) no. 1, (2) to (5) EStG).
The obligation sits with whoever pays, even a promoter based abroad. The German finance ministry cites this exact case, a domestic event with a foreign organiser (BMF letter of 25 November 2010). The payer files and pays at the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) by the 10th day of the month after the quarter in which the fee was paid, and is personally liable for any shortfall (§73e EStDV).
Worked example: a fee guaranteed net
If the contract promises the artist EUR 100,000 after German tax, the withholding comes on top of that amount and is grossed up. The gross fee is 100,000 / 0.84175 = EUR 118,800.12, and the withholding is EUR 18,800.12, not EUR 15,825. Write in the contract whether the fee is gross or net, and who receives it.
Treaty relief
Most tax treaties let Germany tax performers who appear there, so relief is the exception. Where a treaty does reduce the German tax, the payer may only withhold less with an exemption certificate issued in advance by the BZSt. Without it, the full 15.825% is withheld and the recipient claims a refund afterwards (§50c EStG). The BZSt explains, country by country, which treaties exempt which performances in its guidance for artists and athletes (BZSt Merkblatt, German).
Your own ticket income
This point is easy to miss. German law treats the income from a performance in Germany as German-source income of whoever earns it, including the ticket revenue of a foreign organiser (§49(1) no. 2(d) EStG). Ticket buyers withhold nothing, so the tax office can issue an assessment to the organiser for 15.825% of the gross takings (BMF letter of 25 November 2010, paragraphs 42 and 111). A treaty can remove that charge, but only on facts you can prove. Under the Germany-US treaty, for example, protection depends on showing that neither the artist nor related persons share in the organiser's profits (article 17(2)), and a tax-transparent LLC owned by non-US residents gets none (article 1(7)). Have this reviewed before you sign the artist contract, not after the show.
GEMA licence and the artists' social levy
Two payments that are easy to forget because no one invoices you in advance.
Licence before the show
Public performance of music in Germany needs a licence, requested before the event (§42 VGG). For concerts, tariff U-K version 21 (from 1 May 2026) charges 7.60% of net ticket revenue for 2,001 to 15,000 visitors. The base excludes VAT and booking fees. After the show you report revenue and the setlist; a late setlist adds 10%, and with no report GEMA bills on full capacity at the highest price (GEMA tariff U-K).
Whether a foreign organiser with no German presence owes the levy itself is not settled. The pension insurance guidance applies it to anyone active in Germany (DRV), while the KSK's own leaflet for organisers says a foreign company is not liable and the German partner pays (KSK Info 4). Get written confirmation from the KSK and set the amount aside until you have it.
Safety, visas and work permits
Rules that sit with the venue and with each traveller.
Safety concept above 5,000 places
For venues with more than 5,000 places, the model venue regulation requires a safety concept drawn up by the venue operator with police and fire services. The operator can transfer its duties to the organiser in writing, so read the hire contract (MVStättVO §38 and §43). Each federal state applies its own version.
Visas and the 90-day work exemption
Nationals of countries such as Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon or Iran need a Schengen visa; US, Canadian and UAE nationals do not (Regulation (EU) 2018/1806). Visa-free entry does not by itself allow work. Germany exempts certain performers of particular artistic value, their support staff and touring ensembles from labour-agency approval for up to 90 days in 12 months (§22 BeschV). Check each artist and crew member.
Deadlines for one German date
In the order they usually fall. Dates count from the on-sale, the fee payments and the show.
Fix the fee terms
Gross or net fee, who is paid (the artist or a company, in which country), and proof for any treaty relief. These choices set the withholding and the risk on your ticket income.
Register for the non-Union OSS
Register earlier if you go through Germany, because the BOP certificate arrives by post.
Request the GEMA licence
Also agree in writing with the venue who holds the safety duties, and file the visas.
File and pay the §50a withholding
Advances count. If the 10th is a weekend or public holiday, the deadline moves to the next working day.
Report to GEMA
Revenue and setlist within the period set by the tariff.
OSS return and payment
The deadline stays fixed even when it falls on a weekend, so pay a few days early.
KSK return, then the VAT refund claim
The KSK return covers fees paid in the previous year. The refund claim recovers German VAT on your costs.
Do you need a German or EU company?
Not for one date. Possibly for a tour.
Stay with your home company
The non-Union OSS handles ticket VAT, Germany asks for no fiscal representative, and the VAT on your costs is refunded by the BZSt. No German entity is required to sell tickets.
Consider an EU company
An EU company gives you an EU VAT number, the Union OSS and refunds through your home tax office, and venues deal with a European counterparty. It does not remove the artist withholding, GEMA or the KSK levy, and it needs real management in Europe to be taxed where it is registered.
If an EU company makes sense for your plans, our pages on EU company formation for non-residents and on opening a European subsidiary of a foreign company explain the Latvian route. For the rules in other countries on your routing, start from our guide for non-EU promoters in Europe.
What Balt Partners coordinates
One contact for the European paperwork of your dates, with licensed partners in each country.
Obligation map per date
VAT, withholding, music rights, levies, safety and visas for each city on your routing, with the deadlines in one calendar.
OSS registration and returns
The registration file and the quarterly returns, prepared with our accounting partners.
Withholding and treaty files
§50a filings and exemption or refund requests, handled by a licensed German tax adviser we work with.
An EU company when it pays off
A Latvian SIA with its VAT number, bank account and accounting, if your plans go beyond one date.
Germany is one stop of a longer routing? See how we coordinate every date of a tour on one calendar: tour compliance coordination.
Questions from non-EU promoters about Germany
No. A company based outside the EU can sell tickets for a German show and declare the German VAT through the non-Union One-Stop Shop. Germany does not require a fiscal representative. An EU company becomes useful for a tour or recurring dates, not for a single show.
Concert admission is taxed at 7%, including the dearer seat categories. Parking and merchandise sold by the organiser are taxed at 19%, and VIP packages are split by content. Conference and most sports-event tickets are taxed at 19%.
15.825% of the gross fee: 15% income tax plus the 5.5% solidarity surcharge on it. Travel and accommodation reimbursed at cost are excluded. If the fee is guaranteed net, the tax is grossed up, so a net fee of EUR 100,000 costs EUR 118,800.12.
The promoter who pays the fee, even from abroad. It files and pays at the BZSt by the 10th day of the month after the quarter of payment and is personally liable if the tax is not withheld.
Yes, under German domestic law, and the tax office can assess it at 15.825% of gross takings. A tax treaty can remove the charge, but only on facts you can prove, for example that the artist has no share in your profits. Check this before signing the artist contract.
In practice yes. Public performance of music in Germany needs a licence requested before the event, and GEMA also licenses foreign repertoire through its partner societies. Under tariff U-K, a concert for 2,001 to 15,000 visitors pays 7.60% of net ticket revenue.
Before the artist contract and the on-sale. The fee terms decide the withholding and the risk on your ticket income, and the OSS registration is due by the 10th day of the month after the first sale.