Upwork VAT in Germany

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Hi everyone,

I am sure that this question has already been asked, however I could not find a viable answer to it.

So my issue is as follows:

I do most of my freelance work on the Upwork platform. However as you all know, I have to pay fees to Upwork, including VAT. I know that Upwork substracts the owed VAT automatically and I do not have to do anything extra on this aspect, however I opted to put my German VAT id on the platform, and that means that I take the responsibility of paying the VAT to the German authorities.

My problem is that I don't know how to pay the VAT I am due because, Upwork is an American service provider with location in US (you can see it on the invoice they send you with the taxes you pay them) and their European VAT id does not have the standard format- it cannot be validated on the VIES website. Hence, Upwork cannot be considered as an European service supplier because they are treated differently under the "one-stop-shop" EU regulation.

Did anyone else have this issue? And if yes, how did you solve it?

I hope I was clear enough in detailing my issue.

Thanks in advance for the answers. 🙂