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anny has three instruments that are all called “voucher” in everyday use: booking packages, value vouchers, and discount codes. For tax purposes, these are three completely different things. This article explains the classification under German VAT law, shows where the typical mistakes lie, and gives your tax advisor the legal references and booking entries.
This documentation does not replace tax advice. How a voucher is classified depends on how your offer is set up in detail and must be agreed with your tax advisor. anny only reflects the configuration you choose.

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The distinction in one sentence

A voucher is a single-purpose voucher if, when it is issued, the following are already fixed: the supplier, the place of supply, and the VAT due. If even one of these is missing, it is a multi-purpose voucher.
There is no right to choose. § 3 (15) UStG defines the multi-purpose voucher purely negatively as a “voucher that is not a single-purpose voucher”. If the three criteria are objectively fixed, it is a single-purpose voucher — regardless of how the voucher is named or labeled.

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Which type is which in anny

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The most common mistake: the value voucher that isn’t one

The default setup of an anny value voucher — free or fixed monetary value, redeemable for any paid booking of your organization — is a clean multi-purpose voucher. Two settings can tip this:
Limit usage: If you restrict redemption in the package editor to a single resource or a single service, the supplier, place of supply, and tax rate may already be fixed on issue. For tax purposes, the voucher then becomes a single-purpose voucher — even though anny still creates the purchase invoice with 0% VAT. The VAT would then already have arisen on sale.
The same applies if your entire bookable offer only has a single tax rate anyway and takes place at one location. So before going live, check:
1

Supplier

Can only your organization be the supplier on redemption? In a marketplace or multi-provider setup, the supplier is not fixed — that is the strongest argument for a multi-purpose voucher.
2

Place of supply

Can services be redeemed at different locations or in different countries? Note: services connected with rooms and immovable property are always taxed where the property is located under § 3a (3) no. 1 UStG — several rooms at the same location therefore don’t help.
3

Tax rate

Does the redeemable offer include at least two tax rates or also tax-exempt services (e.g. § 4 no. 12 or no. 22 UStG)? If so, the tax due is not fixed on issue.
4

Document the result

Record the result of the check in writing and have your tax advisor confirm it — including the voucher terms and conditions and the redemption logic.

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Different services are not enough

A widespread misconception: “The voucher is valid for many different services, so it is a multi-purpose voucher.” That is not correct. According to section 3.17 (2) UStAE, a generic description of the subject of the service is sufficient. As long as the same supplier, the same place of supply, and the same tax rate are fixed, it is a single-purpose voucher.
The time of supply is not a criterion either. Whether the voucher is redeemed at once or in partial amounts over months does not change the classification. With multi-purpose vouchers, VAT arises proportionally with each partial redemption, at the tax rate applicable at that time.

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Services at 7% in the offer

If you deliberately want a second tax rate in the redeemable offer, the corresponding service must actually be redeemable with the voucher and must actually be used. A token item that nobody buys does not support the classification and can be regarded as an abuse of legal arrangements (§ 42 AO). Typical items and services at the reduced tax rate:
Bottled water is not 7%. Annex 2 no. 34 UStG explicitly excludes drinking water, spring water, and table water as soon as it is placed on the market in prepackaged form — bottled water is therefore 19%, regardless of the container size. In practice, the 7% only applies to supply by water utilities. Rule of thumb: drinks are generally 19%, food is mostly 7%.

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Booking and DATEV export

anny books value vouchers via a separate balance sheet account, not via a revenue account. On sale, a liability towards the customer arises; only redemption generates revenue on the revenue account for the respective tax rate. You store the account numbers in the DATEV integration under Account › Apps & Integrations. Which accounts are needed, what they mean, and what the tax advisor has to prepare is described in DATEV accounts and preparation with your tax advisor. You find the technical setup of the automatic export under Connect DATEV with anny.
In SKR 03, the matching account is usually called 1796 “Ausgegebene Geschenkgutscheine” (issued gift vouchers; SKR 04: 3786). Revenue usually runs via 8400 (19%) and 8300 (7%), other operating income via 8600. The binding assignment comes from your tax advisor — anny only reflects what you store.
When selling a multi-purpose voucher, do not set a VAT code. If VAT is booked and shown by mistake, this results in an incorrectly shown tax under § 14c (1) UStG — the VAT shown is owed even though there is no taxable supply at all.

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Unredeemed vouchers

With a multi-purpose voucher, expiry does not trigger VAT. No service was ever provided, so there is nothing to tax and nothing to correct under § 17 UStG. For income tax purposes, things are different.
1

The liability stays on the balance sheet

The sold voucher is shown as another liability on the balance sheet until the claim has expired or a redemption can no longer seriously be expected.
2

Wait for the regular limitation period

Under §§ 195, 199 (1) BGB, the claim becomes time-barred after three years, counted from the end of the year of issue. A voucher sold on 15.03.2026 therefore becomes time-barred at the end of 31.12.2029.
3

Derecognize with an effect on income

The derecognition is booked against other operating income. This income is subject to corporate income tax and trade tax, but not to VAT.
The expiry date in anny is not the limitation period. The default value of 730 days only controls when anny technically blocks the code. Under civil law, a time limit in terms and conditions is subject to review under § 307 BGB, and courts have repeatedly declared short validity periods for value vouchers acquired against payment invalid. If the clause is invalid, the three-year period still applies — and even with a valid time limit, compensation for value minus the lost profit can be claimed under unjust enrichment law (§ 812 BGB). So don’t derecognize when the code expires, but after the limitation period has ended.
Track open vouchers by year of issue — via the export under Management › Codes › Booking codes or separate sub-accounts. Without this breakdown, you cannot determine at closing which part of the account balance is time-barred, and derecognition becomes an estimate. Reconcile the balance of the voucher account against the open stock in anny at every reporting date.
A statistical partial derecognition based on the expected redemption rate (breakage) is not permitted under German commercial and tax balance sheet law — the liability stays on the balance sheet in full until it expires. IFRS 15 allows this differently; if you also report according to IFRS logic, the figures deliberately diverge here.

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FAQ

No. The classification follows from the objective circumstances on issue, not from the name. Only the facts can be shaped: who can supply, where the supply takes place, which tax rates are redeemable. The label on the voucher is a consequence of this classification, not its cause.
The VAT would already have arisen on issue. In a tax audit, this leads to back payments for all open years plus interest under § 233a AO. In addition, the tax exemption of income from expired vouchers no longer applies retroactively. Discuss the case with your tax advisor early.
Because there is no taxable supply yet when a multi-purpose voucher is sold — for VAT purposes, the transaction is a mere exchange of means of payment. The VAT only arises on the booking invoice on redemption.
Each partial redemption generates proportional revenue at the tax rate applicable at that time and its own invoice. The remaining balance stays on the voucher account and is still not taxable.
With a multi-purpose voucher, each redemption uses the rate applicable at that time. With a single-purpose voucher, the rate is fixed on issue. Incidentally, an upcoming statutory rate change does not turn a voucher into a multi-purpose voucher.
If a cancellation is refunded as a value voucher, a new multi-purpose voucher is created — the original revenue is corrected via the cancellation invoice. The exact treatment depends on whether the original invoice had already been finalized; clarify the process with your tax advisor.
The single-purpose/multi-purpose system is harmonized EU-wide via the Voucher Directive, but the specific tax rates and limitation periods are not. Different rules apply to organizations in Austria or Switzerland — the information in this article refers to Germany.

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Next steps

1

Check the configuration

For each active package, check whether “Limit usage” is set and which tax rates occur in the redeemable offer.
2

Have the classification confirmed

Give your tax advisor the voucher terms and conditions, the redemption logic, and this article, and have the classification confirmed in writing.
3

Store the accounts

Enter the confirmed general ledger accounts in the DATEV integration.
4

Define the derecognition process

Agree on when and to which account time-barred vouchers are derecognized, and make this a fixed step in the annual financial statements.