Note: legal review pending
This article explains the legal and tax situation to the best of our knowledge with sources — it is not legal or tax advice. For binding guidance, please consult a lawyer or tax advisor.
In short
Under the PStTG, reporting platform operators must identify their sellers, collect and verify their tax data, and transmit the reportable income electronically to the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) annually by 31 January. Sellers receive a copy of their data.
Who is a reporting platform operator?
Reportable are operators of digital platforms that connect sellers and users so that relevant activities are performed for consideration — such as the sale of goods or personal services. The PStTG definition governs; classifying an individual case can be demanding.
What duties apply specifically?
| Duty | Content |
|---|---|
| Registration | Register with the BZSt as a reporting platform operator. |
| Due diligence | Collect and verify seller data (identity, tax ID, residence, etc.). |
| Reporting | Annual electronic transmission of reportable data to the BZSt. |
| Information | Provide the seller a copy of the reported data. |
| Record-keeping | Document the due-diligence and reporting processes applied. |
By when must they report?
Reporting covers the past calendar year and must reach the BZSt by 31 January of the following year. Transmission is electronic via the BZSt DAC7/DPI data interface following the prescribed schema.
What happens in case of breaches?
Breaches — such as a report not filed, filed late or incomplete — can be punished as an administrative offence with a fine. Operators should therefore document their due-diligence and reporting processes cleanly. The current BZSt specifications govern the actual assessment.
Is Collavo a platform operator under the PStTG?
Collavo is a creator-operations platform where collaborations run from brief to payout on one record and payments flow through the system. As a platform through which consideration flows, DAC7 relevance for Collavo is generally given. The precise classification as a reporting operator is a legal assessment for each case.
Honest framing & not legal advice
Collavo captures the relevant data and exports DAC7-ready receipts as PDF/CSV. There is no automatic submission to authorities. This article is not legal or tax advice.
Frequently asked
- What is the PStTG?
- The Platform Tax Transparency Act implements the EU directive DAC7 in Germany. It obliges reporting platform operators to collect seller data and report annually to the Federal Central Tax Office.
- Which authority do platforms report to?
- Reporting is electronic to the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt), which forwards data to tax offices and other EU states.
- Does Collavo file the platform report automatically?
- No. Collavo captures the data and exports DAC7-ready receipts. There is no automatic submission to authorities; legal classification and transmission are clarified case by case.
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