The Document German Tax Authorities Don’t Usually Issue: How We Helped BIZUU Unblock Sales on Zalando

International e-commerce expansion often looks straightforward on paper: register on a marketplace, set up logistics, publish your offers, and start selling. In reality, however, there is often a long list of tax requirements, local administrative formalities and platform-specific procedures between the initial business decision and the first order — and these do not always align. Sometimes, a single document is enough to bring the entire process to a halt, even when a company already has an active VAT number and has fulfilled all the necessary tax obligations. This was exactly the challenge faced by BIZUU, a Polish fashion brand expanding its sales in Germany. The company wanted to grow its presence on Zalando, including by using Zalando Fulfillment Solutions. However, the process came to a standstill when the platform requested an up-to-date document confirming the company’s German VAT registration, issued no more than six months before submission. The problem was that German tax offices do not normally issue this type of certificate. BIZUU therefore found itself caught between the requirements of a commercial platform and the administrative practice of the local tax authority. We could not promise that obtaining the requested document would be possible, but we decided to explore every available option. Through persistent follow-up, we eventually managed to obtain a document that the tax office would not normally issue in such circumstances, allowing our client to resume the Zalando onboarding process. Expanding International Sales Required a New Logistics Solution Our cooperation with BIZUU had begun earlier. In 2025, we handled the company’s VAT registration in Germany. The process was completed successfully, resulting in a German VAT number and an official document confirming the registration. From a tax perspective, the company therefore had everything it needed to operate on the German market. A year later, BIZUU was ready for the next stage of its expansion. The company wanted to make broader use of Zalando’s infrastructure, including the launch of Zalando Fulfillment Solutions. ZFS is a fulfilment model in which Zalando supports sellers with the logistics behind customer orders. Goods can be stored in Zalando warehouses, while the platform takes care of services such as order fulfilment and delivery to customers. For a growing e-commerce business, this type of solution can play an important role in scaling operations. It gives sellers access to the infrastructure of a major platform, streamlines fulfilment and reduces some of the operational challenges associated with serving an international market. However, access to the service depends on meeting Zalando’s formal onboarding requirements. In June, BIZUU was informed that it needed to provide an up-to-date confirmation of its German VAT registration before the onboarding process could continue. The document could not be more than six months old. The certificate issued during the company’s VAT registration in 2025 was rejected solely because of its issue date. As a result, the company’s expansion was halted by a formality that, at first glance, should have been easy to resolve. BIZUU had a valid VAT number, remained registered in Germany and was ready to begin operating. The only missing element was a recent document confirming a status that had already been established. The Problem: German Tax Authorities Do Not Issue “Current VAT Confirmation” Certificates In Poland, businesses may be familiar with the possibility of obtaining an up-to-date confirmation of their tax status. German administrative practice is different. As a rule, German tax offices do not issue periodically renewed VAT registration certificates simply because an earlier document no longer meets the validity requirements imposed by a commercial organisation. From the tax authority’s perspective, the key document is the confirmation issued when the business is first registered. If the VAT number has not been cancelled, the administration generally sees no reason to issue another letter confirming the same information. In other words, there is no direct equivalent in the German system of the document Zalando was asking BIZUU to provide. This created a procedural gap typical of international e-commerce. The platform required a document issued within the previous six months, while the authority that would potentially need to issue it considered that the relevant confirmation had already been provided to the taxpayer at the time of registration. For a company planning international expansion, this is far more than an administrative inconvenience. Every week of delay can mean postponing a sales launch, holding stock that has already been allocated to a new market, changing marketing schedules and being unable to use the platform’s logistics infrastructure. In this case, Zalando suspended BIZUU’s onboarding to the ZFS programme until the required document could be provided. From the Start, We Focused on Transparent Communication When the client approached us with the issue, we immediately explained how German tax offices normally handle requests of this kind. We did not want to create the false impression that all we needed to do was submit a standard application and wait a few days for a new certificate to arrive. We made it clear that the authority would not normally issue this kind of updated confirmation, meaning we could not guarantee a successful outcome. At the same time, we were not prepared to leave the matter there. The absence of a standard procedure does not necessarily mean that a tax office cannot consider a well-justified individual request. So we decided to try. Our approach was not based on sending a single letter and passively waiting for a reply. We knew the case might require consistent follow-up, explanations of the commercial context, progress monitoring and quick responses to any new developments. For companies expanding internationally, this is an important distinction. Some tax issues can be resolved by following a clearly defined procedure. Others require strong justification, effective communication with the local authorities and the ability to present arguments the administration is prepared to accept. Our First Steps: An Application via ELSTER and a Follow-Up Call We Submitted a Request to the German Tax Office On 8 and 9 June, we contacted the relevant German tax office and requested an up-to-date certificate confirming BIZUU’s VAT registration. The request was submitted through ELSTER, Germany’s electronic tax administration system. We explained that the company was not asking to register again or obtain a new VAT number. It simply needed a newly issued confirmation because Zalando had made this a condition for continuing the onboarding process. Because the request was unusual, submitting it did not provide any certainty that the authority would be willing to depart from its standard practice. A Phone Call Did Not Speed Up the Process On 12 June, we contacted the tax office by phone. We wanted to confirm that the request had been received correctly and determine whether the case could be expedited given that our client’s onboarding process had been put on hold. The response was clear: because the request had been submitted through ELSTER, we needed to wait for a written reply. The tax office employee also explained that calling would not affect the processing time. At that point, it would have been easy to conclude that there was nothing more we could do and simply wait. For BIZUU, however, that would have meant having no control over the timeline and continuing to postpone the sales launch. So we kept working on the case. Time Pressure Was Increasing, but There Was Still No Response Between 15 and 22 June, we sent additional follow-ups regarding the case. At the same time, BIZUU regularly asked us for updates because Zalando would not continue the onboarding process without the new document. We had to manage two areas in parallel. On the one hand, we continued communicating with the German tax authority and tried to persuade it to issue a non-standard confirmation. On the other, we remained in close contact with the client, explaining why the process was taking longer than expected and what steps we were taking. In international tax matters, a lack of response does not necessarily mean a request has been rejected. It may simply mean that the case is waiting in a queue, needs to be passed to the appropriate officer or requires someone to determine whether there is a legal or procedural basis for carrying out an unusual request. From a company’s perspective, however, every additional day still has a commercial impact. On 23 June, we escalated the matter internally as well. Once again, we explained the mechanics of the German system to the client, shared the current status and assured them that we were continuing to pursue the matter. At the same time, we arranged another telephone contact with the tax office. The objective was not simply to send more messages. We were looking for a way to present the situation so that the authority could see that the document was required for a specific commercial process, rather than being requested merely as an additional confirmation for the taxpayer’s own records. An Unexpected Turn: The Tax Office Wanted to Deregister BIZUU for VAT On 24 June, the situation suddenly became more complicated. Instead of issuing the certificate we had requested, the German tax office informed BIZUU that it was considering cancelling the company’s VAT registration. The reason was the absence of reported activity or sales in Germany since the original registration. From the authority’s perspective, this could indicate that the VAT number was not being actively used and that there was therefore no reason to maintain the registration. For BIZUU, this created a particularly difficult situation. The company needed confirmation of its existing VAT number to launch broader sales through Zalando, while the tax authority was considering cancelling that same number precisely because sales had not yet started. It created an administrative catch-22: without an active VAT number and confirmation of it, launching sales was difficult; without active sales, the authority began questioning whether the registration should continue to exist. We did not leave the client to deal with this new issue alone. We helped prepare an explanation for the German tax administration. The response needed to outline the company’s genuine business plans and explain that BIZUU was preparing to launch sales through Zalando Fulfillment Solutions. The lack of previous transactions did not mean that the company had abandoned the German market. It was simply the result of an ongoing implementation and onboarding process. This part of the case demonstrates why foreign VAT registration should not be treated as a one-off formality. Obtaining a VAT number is the beginning of certain obligations, not the end. If a significant amount of time passes between registration and the start of sales, the tax authority may ask why the business has remained inactive or question whether the VAT number still needs to be maintained. The Breakthrough: Zalando’s Email Gave the Tax Office Grounds to Issue the Document Later that same day, however, came the most important development in the case. The German tax office confirmed that it could issue an updated letter confirming the VAT registration — provided that it received evidence showing that Zalando genuinely required the document. The solution turned out to be a screenshot of the message from Zalando stating that the certificate had to be less than six months old. We submitted this evidence to the tax office to support the request. The authority accepted Zalando’s message as sufficient justification for issuing the document. It confirmed that an official letter would be prepared and sent to the company by post. This was the breakthrough. The authority had not changed the general rules followed by the German tax administration. It had not introduced a standard procedure for issuing regularly updated VAT confirmations. Instead, it recognised that this particular case involved a legitimate business need that justified issuing an additional document. Documenting Zalando’s requirement proved to be the key. Simply saying that BIZUU needed an updated certificate had not been enough. Only when we demonstrated that the absence of the document was blocking a specific Zalando onboarding process did the authority have a basis for considering the request individually. This is a practical example of the approach that is often required when dealing with unusual issues in international e-commerce. If local regulations or administrative practices do not provide for a particular document, the solution may lie in presenting the full business context and providing evidence of why the document has genuine commercial importance. The Document Arrived and the Onboarding Process Could Continue On 1 July, we informed BIZUU that the letter from Germany confirming its VAT number had arrived. The following day, the client thanked us for our support and forwarded the document for the next stage of the Zalando process. Just over three weeks had passed between the initial request and receiving the letter. During that period, the case required correspondence through ELSTER, multiple follow-ups, telephone calls, escalation and a response to the unexpected risk of the VAT number being cancelled. Ultimately, BIZUU received a certificate that the German tax office would not normally issue. The document allowed the suspended Zalando onboarding process to continue, including preparations for launching sales through ZFS. The outcome had a direct commercial impact. This was not simply about closing an administrative tax matter. Obtaining the letter enabled BIZUU to continue scaling its sales, access Zalando’s logistics infrastructure and move forward with its growth plans in the German market. Why Were We Able to Resolve the Case? We Did Not Stop After the First Request Consistency was one of the most important factors. The initial application was not left without further action. We monitored its progress, sent follow-ups and made repeated attempts to contact the tax office. In non-standard cases, simply submitting a request is often not enough, especially when the officer handling the matter cannot identify an obvious procedure corresponding to what the taxpayer is asking for. Persistence, however, did not mean applying aggressive pressure. Each interaction was intended to clarify the situation, obtain an update and demonstrate that the lack of a response was having measurable commercial consequences for the company. We Were Open With the Client About the Situation From the beginning, BIZUU knew that the outcome was uncertain. We did not promise a document that the tax office was under no formal obligation to issue. At the same time, the client was kept informed about every stage of the process, the limitations of the system and the possible scenarios. This approach is particularly important for companies planning sales, logistics and marketing activities around expansion into a new market. Businesses need to know whether a particular administrative requirement is routine or whether it depends on an individual decision by the authority. That knowledge makes it easier to manage timelines and operational risk. We Found Evidence the Tax Office Could Accept The most important step was identifying evidence the authority could accept as justification for the unusual request. A screenshot of Zalando’s message was not an official government document or a tax form. However, it demonstrated that the platform’s requirement was real and that the absence of an up-to-date certificate was preventing BIZUU from launching sales. As a result, the request no longer appeared to be an attempt to obtain an additional document “just in case”. Instead, it became a response to a specific requirement imposed by the platform through which the company intended to operate in Germany. We Responded Quickly to the Additional Risk The possibility that BIZUU’s VAT number could be cancelled had the potential to change the entire course of the case. It required an immediate explanation of why no sales had yet been reported, together with a clear description of the company’s plans to start operating through Zalando ZFS. We helped connect both sides of the issue: the need to retain the VAT number and the planned launch of sales. This gave the tax authority a coherent explanation of why the company remained registered despite not yet having reported the expected level of activity. What Can E-Commerce Businesses Learn From This Case Study? Marketplace Requirements May Go Beyond Standard Administrative Practice Online marketplaces have their own seller verification procedures. They may require documents in a particular format, language or validity period even when the relevant local authority does not routinely issue such documents. A company can therefore be fully compliant with its statutory obligations and still fail to complete a platform’s onboarding process. In this situation, understanding the legislation alone is not enough. Businesses must also understand what the marketplace requires and whether the local administration is able — or willing — to provide the requested evidence. VAT Registration Should Be Planned Alongside the Intended Sales Launch BIZUU’s case also highlights the importance of timing. If a company registers for VAT well in advance but does not report sales for an extended period, the tax authority may begin asking how the VAT number is actually being used. That does not mean VAT registration should always be postponed until the last possible moment. In many cases, the VAT number is required before trading can begin. However, businesses should be prepared to provide documentation confirming their planned sales activity, cooperation with a marketplace, warehouse launch or other steps demonstrating a genuine intention to conduct business in the country. Documents From the Platform Can Help When Dealing With the Tax Authority Emails, messages in a seller dashboard or lists of onboarding requirements are not tax documents. However, they can still serve as valuable supporting evidence. They can demonstrate to the tax authority that a company’s request results from a genuine requirement imposed by a commercial partner or platform, and that failure to meet that requirement affects the company’s ability to begin trading. For this reason, it is worth retaining correspondence relating to formal requirements, particularly when it contains information about required documents, deadlines or the consequences of failing to provide them. International Expansion Requires More Than Knowledge of Tax Rules Tax legislation provides the foundation, but many real-world problems arise at the intersection of law, marketplace procedures and local administrative practice. In such cases, experience in communicating with tax authorities, the ability to explain the commercial context and a willingness to look beyond standard procedures can be just as important. A business entering a new market may not have the time or resources to manage weeks of correspondence, monitor responses and react to additional questions from the authorities on its own. Our support in such situations goes beyond simply completing a form. It means managing the case until the administrative issue no longer stands in the way of the company’s operations. From an Administrative Obstacle to Genuine Support for Business Growth BIZUU’s story is a good example of how even a seemingly minor documentation requirement can bring a commercially significant international expansion project to a halt. The company was VAT-registered, had a German VAT number and was preparing to begin selling. Despite this, the Zalando process was suspended because a document issued a year earlier did not meet the platform’s internal requirement regarding how recently it had been issued. There was no straightforward procedure for obtaining a new certificate. The German tax office was under no obligation to issue another confirmation and initially saw no reason to do so. During the process, an additional risk also emerged when the authority considered cancelling BIZUU’s VAT number due to the lack of activity to date. Resolving the case required several elements to come together: persistent contact with the tax office, clear communication with the client, a quick response to the deregistration issue and the submission of Zalando’s message as evidence that the new document was genuinely required. Thanks to these efforts, BIZUU received an up-to-date confirmation of its VAT registration and the suspended onboarding process could continue. The administrative obstacle was removed, opening the way for the company to expand its sales on Zalando and make use of Zalando Fulfillment Solutions. Cases like this demonstrate why international VAT support goes far beyond tax returns, registration numbers and filing deadlines. Handled properly, it becomes part of the infrastructure that enables a business to grow. Planning to Expand Through Zalando or Another Marketplace? Launching sales on an international marketplace may involve much more than VAT registration. Businesses may also need to address warehousing arrangements, transaction reporting and the documentation required during the platform’s onboarding process. Marketplace requirements do not always align with standard administrative procedures, which is why they should ideally be reviewed well before the planned sales launch. At amavat, we support e-commerce companies with VAT registrations, international VAT compliance and communication with local tax authorities. When the standard route is not enough, we help identify the source of the problem, prepare the right arguments and find a solution that allows the business to keep moving forward with its international expansion.