The situation
A gift-card scheme redeemable in stores in two countries and online
A bookshop and stationery chain with stores in Germany and Austria is launching a gift card for Christmas. The card can be bought in any store or online and redeemed in either country, on anything from paperbacks to fountain pens. Marketing wants it at the tills by the middle of November.
Finance has to decide when the VAT falls due: when the card is sold or when it is spent. That turns on whether the card is a single-purpose or a multi-purpose voucher, and the answer changes with the design. Each design choice has to be checked against the rules before the till and webshop settings are fixed.
What the research has to settle
The rules behind the answer
- The test is what is known at issue
- A voucher is single-purpose when the place of supply and the VAT due on the goods or services are known when it is issued. Every other voucher is multi-purpose.
- Single-purpose: VAT at each transfer
- VAT on a single-purpose voucher is due when it is issued and each time it is transferred. Handing over the goods in exchange for it is not taxed again.
- Multi-purpose: VAT on redemption
- For a multi-purpose voucher, VAT falls due only when the goods are supplied in exchange for it. Earlier transfers are not taxed, although a distributor’s own services may be.
- Two countries or two rates point one way
- A card that can be spent in two countries, or on goods taxed at different rates, is multi-purpose because the VAT due is not known at issue. Coupons that only give a discount are outside the voucher rules altogether.
How it runs in azta
From the question to the document
The question, as you would type it
German retailer with stores in Germany and Austria sells gift cards in store and online, redeemable in both countries on books and on stationery, which carry different VAT rates. Is the card a single- or multi-purpose voucher, when is VAT due, and how are unredeemed cards treated in each country?
You start with
A gift-card scheme redeemable in stores in two countries and online
- 01
Describe the card
Give where it is sold, where it can be spent, on what, and for how long. azta searches the voucher rules in the VAT Directive and the German and Austrian VAT acts.
Cited research· Free - 02
Read the definitions
Open the national definitions of single- and multi-purpose vouchers in the reader, side by side, in the original German.
Atlas statute reader - 03
Draft the VAT note
Ask for a note covering classification, timing and the open points for expired cards and resellers. Edit it in Canvas.
Canvas · Ask azta· Pro - 04
Hand it to the till team
Export to Word with a short annex of till and webshop settings, ready for sign-off.
Word export· Pro You send
A note classifying the card as a single- or multi-purpose voucher, with the VAT consequences
What you get
A note classifying the card as a single- or multi-purpose voucher, with the VAT consequences
VAT note · draft
Gift card 2026: VAT classification
Classification. The card can be spent in Germany and in Austria, and on goods taxed at different rates. Neither the place of supply nor the VAT due is known when the card is sold. It is therefore a multi-purpose voucher in both countries.
Timing. No VAT is due when a card is sold. VAT is due when the card is redeemed, in the country of the store or of delivery, at the rate for the goods bought. Card sales should be recorded outside taxable sales in the till and webshop.
Open points. The treatment of cards that expire unused, and of cards sold through third-party resellers, is set out in the annex for each country. A card valid in one country for one product range would be a different case and needs its own review.
Outcomes on your numbers
What azta is worth on this task
Pro pays for itself after
20 minutes a month
At €85 an hour, that is all the time Pro (€27 a month) has to take off your desk to cover its price.
Example figures. Replace them with your own.
- Hours back a year
- 16
- Capacity at your rate
- €1,377
- More voucher VAT notes a quarter
- 0.7
- Return on Pro
- 4.3×
- Research
- Drafting
- Your review
A scenario you set, not a promise. The hours that come back go to another client, or deeper into this one.
Want these numbers on your team’s real workload?
Book a demoWhat stays with you
- The card design and terms of use, which decide the classification.
- Accounting for expired and unused balances.
- Setting up the till and webshop codes.
Frequently asked questions
- What about an e-gift card for one country only?
- Ask with the exact terms. If the place of supply and the VAT due are both known at issue, the card may be single-purpose and VAT is then due on sale.
- Do the voucher rules cover discount codes?
- No. Instruments that only entitle the holder to a price reduction are outside them. azta cites the definition so you can check your scheme against it.
- Can azta read the card’s terms?
- Yes. Upload them and ask. azta reads them and points to the passages that decide the classification.
