Germany W-IdNr GEBA Peppol

The W-IdNr becomes your B2B e-invoicing address

Since November 2024, the German Federal Central Tax Office has been assigning the business identification number (Wirtschafts-Identifikationsnummer) to economic operators in Germany in phases. Since December 2025 an electronic business address for the Peppol network can be derived from it. This article sets out the structure of the GEBA, the four possible shapes and the difference from the Leitweg-ID.

9 September 2026

9 min read

Since November 2024 the Bundeszentralamt für Steuern has been issuing the Wirtschafts-Identifikationsnummer (W-IdNr), the German business identification number. Companies that already held a VAT identification number on 30 November 2024 know their W-IdNr already: in that case the two numbers are identical. Until now it served tax purposes only.

Since December 2025 it has a second function. An electronic business address can be derived from the W-IdNr, making a company addressable in the Peppol network. The scheme is called the German Electronic Business Address, or GEBA, and was specified by KoSIT.

That answers the question of which address a company gives its trading partners for structured invoices. The Leitweg-ID applies only towards public authorities. The VAT identification number was used as a stopgap. The GEBA was developed for this purpose and builds on a number that is already in place.

The Wirtschafts-Identifikationsnummer

The W-IdNr is the nationally unique identifier of an economic operator towards the German tax administration. Its legal basis is section 139a(1) read with section 139c of the Abgabenordnung, the German Fiscal Code. It is valid for the entire duration of the economic activity and does not change when the company name or registered seat changes. It also serves as the bundeseinheitliche Wirtschaftsnummer under section 2 of the Unternehmensbasisdatenregistergesetz, the number by which registers and administrative procedures will identify a company in future.

The Bundeszentralamt für Steuern (BZSt), the Federal Central Tax Office, issues it on its own initiative. No application is needed, and none is possible.

Structure

The W-IdNr follows the structure of the VAT identification number: DE plus nine digits. Added to that is a five-digit Unterscheidungsmerkmal, a distinguishing suffix per economic activity, starting at -00001:

DE123456789-00001

first economic activity

DE123456789-00002

further economic activity

Each suffix is linked to the tax number under which that activity is administered by the local tax office. According to the BZSt, further suffixes are expected to become retrievable through ELSTER from the fourth quarter of 2027.

How to find your W-IdNr

Two routes of notification exist, and which one applies is decided by one cut-off date: 30 November 2024.

A VAT identification number held by 30 November 2024

In that case no individual notification was sent, because the W-IdNr corresponds to the existing VAT identification number. Notice was given by public announcement in the Bundessteuerblatt, the federal tax gazette: from 3 December 2024 the VAT identification number is to be used as the W-IdNr as well, extended by the suffix -00001. Anyone who no longer has the number to hand can trigger a repeat notification at the BZSt.

No VAT identification number, or a newly started activity

The notification arrives electronically in the ELSTER user account, so such an account is a precondition. ELSTER sends an automatically generated email, while the letter itself sits in the ELSTER mailbox. No link in the email needs to be clicked. It arrives faster with the consent to electronic notification under „Formulare und Leistungen“, which has to be given separately for each tax number. Without that consent the number still comes, but according to the BZSt usually only after several months. Where an unrestricted authorised recipient is on record, a tax adviser for instance, the notification goes to them.

Issuance runs in three stages

Stage	Who receives the W-IdNr
since November 2024	Operators obliged to file an annual VAT return, and small businesses under section 19 of the German VAT Act
from Q4 2026	Operators subject to corporate income tax, and those obliged to file a separate assessment declaration
from Q4 2027	All remaining economic operators who have not received a W-IdNr by then

The tax number keeps its function alongside and is still to be used on the forms of the regional tax authorities. Because issuance is staged, stating the W-IdNr in tax returns is not yet mandatory, and no disadvantage follows from not having received one.

One distinction that causes confusion in practice: on an invoice, the W-IdNr replaces none of the existing numbers. According to the BZSt it does not currently meet the requirements of section 14 of the German VAT Act, so the tax number or the VAT identification number remains the mandatory content. Its role in electronic invoicing is not in the invoice content but in the addressing.

For the GEBA this is the decisive precondition: in tax matters the W-IdNr is still optional, as an electronic business address it is not. Without an assigned W-IdNr, no GEBA can be formed. Companies falling into stage 2 or stage 3 should check their position now, rather than when the first trading partner asks for a receiving address.

Definition and scope

The German Electronic Business Address is a unique and flexible electronic address scheme for economic operators in Germany. It builds on the W-IdNr, which in turn is based on the VAT identification number.

Because it builds on the W-IdNr, a GEBA is uniquely assigned to one economic operator and is at the same time available to every economic operator. There is no separate registration for the base identifier: a company that holds a W-IdNr can derive a GEBA from it. The reverse also applies: without an assigned W-IdNr, the GEBA cannot be used.

The specification covers domestic and cross-border business transactions. A GEBA is not a German-only address. It is an address issued in Germany that works across the whole network.

The structure

A GEBA consists of up to three parts. Only the first is mandatory.

W-IdNr (mandatory)

DE plus nine digits, the last of which is a check digit. Structurally identical to the VAT identification number, and identical in substance where a VAT ID was already held on 30 November 2024. Every GEBA begins with this part, with or without a distinguishing feature.

Distinguishing feature (optional)

Five digits assigned by the tax administration: -00001, -00002 and so on. Each feature is tied to a tax number under which a business or establishment is administered by its tax office. That is what makes it usable for separating locations or tax types.

Separator: hyphen-minus (U+002D), permitted only at the 12th position, followed by exactly five digits. Assignment rests with the tax administration alone. The specification rules out self-assignment.

Sub-addressing (optional)

One to eight alphanumeric characters: a-z, A-Z and 0-9 only, and case-insensitive. It routes to a department, a process or a system: .RECH4711.

Separator: full stop (U+002E), permitted only at the 12th or the 18th position, depending on whether a distinguishing feature precedes it. Assignment is made by the economic operator or by an authorised service provider.

The third part is the only one you define yourself. No tax office and no external body is involved. That is what allows a group to route invoices to the responsible shared service centre or accounting unit without each unit needing its own tax number. The structure should therefore be settled before go-live.

Choosing the right shape

Two optional parts produce four possible shapes. The specification describes when each one is appropriate. The decision is organisational rather than technical.

Shape	When it fits
`DE999999999`	A central receiving point for business documents. The standard case for smaller companies and a deliberate choice for larger ones that distribute internally.
`DE999999999-00001`	Separates establishments or tax types, because each distinguishing feature is tied to its own tax number.
`DE999999999.RECH4711`	Routes a specific document type to a specific unit, for example invoices to the accounting team, without touching the tax structure.
`DE999999999-00001.RECH4711`	Both at once: a named unit inside a named establishment. All three components in use.

Settling on a single shape is not required. A company can publish several GEBAs side by side, for example a plain address for general correspondence and a sub-addressed one for invoices. Changing an address later means informing every trading partner, so the shape should be settled before publication.

GEBA and Leitweg-ID compared

The two identifiers serve different purposes and sit in different places on the invoice.

Aspect	Leitweg-ID	GEBA
Used for	B2G: invoices to German public bodies	B2B: invoices between businesses
Sits in	BT-10, Buyer reference	Party/EndpointID (BT-34 for the seller, BT-49 for the buyer)
Who provides it	The public authority you invoice	You, derived from your own W-IdNr
Mandatory	Yes, for invoices to public authorities	No, voluntary and alongside other schemes

A private company invoicing another private company does not need a Leitweg-ID. What it needs is a routable electronic address, and the GEBA fills that role.

The GEBA in the Peppol network

KoSIT registered the scheme with the ISO/IEC 6523 Maintenance Agency on 12 December 2025. The assigned International Code Designator is 0246 and appears in the current Peppol code list of Electronic Address Schemes. The format specification is available in version 1.0.1, dated 15 December 2025. According to KoSIT, the GEBA is available and ready for use in the Peppol network and in XRechnung.

In the Peppol network the GEBA serves as the Participant ID for registration in the SMP and SML and for publishing a Business Card in the Peppol Directory. On an invoice under BIS Billing it sits in Party/EndpointID: BT-34 for the seller's electronic address, BT-49 for the buyer's. The format complies with the Peppol Policy for Use of Identifiers.

Use is voluntary

The GEBA sits alongside other national and international addressing systems and may be used in parallel with them. Companies that already exchange over Peppol using a VAT-based identifier need to change nothing. Comparable schemes are the Finnish OVTcode (0216) and the French FRCTC address (0225).

The company decides

Only the holder of the W-IdNr may define and publish its GEBAs. As the issuing obligation in German B2B begins, every company has to decide which identifier it gives its trading partners.

Publication and visibility

Defining a GEBA and making it findable are two separate tasks. Only the holder of the W-IdNr may carry out either. The specification leaves the method open: include it in purchase orders and contracts, publish it on the website, or provide it on request. Where several routes are used in parallel, one function in the company should hold the authoritative version.

Once a GEBA is used in Peppol, it is public. It is included in the public parts of the SMP, the SML and the Peppol Directory. That is intended, and it is how trading partners find you. It also means that a sub-address naming an internal team or project becomes visible to anyone looking you up. Choose neutral sub-addresses.

Implementation checklist

Confirm that you hold a W-IdNr

It has been issued since November 2024 and matches your VAT ID if you held one on 30 November 2024. Without a W-IdNr the GEBA is not available.

Decide on the shape you need

For one legal entity with one invoice inbox, the plain W-IdNr is sufficient. With several locations, shared service centres or separate accounts payable teams, the distinguishing feature and the sub-address should be settled before go-live.

Build and validate the string

The separator positions are fixed. Common errors are a hyphen in the wrong place, four digits instead of five, and characters outside the permitted set.

Document the identifier for sales and procurement

Define where the valid GEBA is held, so that quotations, contracts and master data all carry the same identifier.

GEBA Builder

Construct and check a GEBA step by step with guided input. An existing string can be pasted in and broken down component by component.

geba-id.de

Leitweg-ID portal

Generates and looks up Leitweg-IDs including the check digit, for B2G invoicing to German public bodies.

leitweg-id.de

How we help

As a certified Peppol access point we handle addressing, routing and format conversion behind one ERP connection. That includes maintaining your SMP entries, which is one of the ways a GEBA sub-address may legitimately be assigned on your behalf.

Your company decides on the shape of the GEBA. Registration in the SMP, publication in the Peppol Directory and technical reachability are handled by us.

Register your GEBA in the Peppol network

Test the platform free for 14 days, with no installation in your ERP system.

Start free trial

Frequent questions

What is a GEBA?

The German Electronic Business Address is a unique and flexible electronic address scheme for economic operators in Germany. It builds on the Wirtschafts-Identifikationsnummer (W-IdNr) and addresses senders and recipients in the Peppol network.

Is the GEBA the same as a Leitweg-ID?

No. The Leitweg-ID applies to B2G invoices to German public bodies and sits in BT-10, the Buyer reference. The GEBA is an electronic address for B2B exchange and sits in Party/EndpointID (BT-34 or BT-49).

Is the GEBA mandatory?

No. Use is voluntary, and the GEBA sits alongside other national and international addressing schemes that may be used in parallel. Companies that already exchange over Peppol using a VAT-based identifier need to change nothing.

Is the GEBA already available in Peppol?

Yes. KoSIT registered the scheme under ISO/IEC 6523 on 12 December 2025 and it was assigned ICD 0246, which appears in the current Peppol code list of Electronic Address Schemes. According to KoSIT, the GEBA is available and ready for use in the Peppol network and in XRechnung.

Do I need a separate registration to obtain a GEBA?

No. A company that holds a W-IdNr can derive a GEBA from it directly. There is no separate registration for the base identifier. Without a W-IdNr, however, the GEBA cannot be used.

Can I define the distinguishing feature myself?

No. The five-digit distinguishing feature is assigned by the tax administration and is tied to a tax number. Self-assignment is expressly not permitted. What you do define is the sub-addressing after the full stop: one to eight alphanumeric characters, set by you or by an authorised service provider.

Can a company have more than one GEBA?

Yes. Sub-addressing exists precisely so that one economic operator can publish several addresses, for different establishments, divisions or document types. Which ones exist and which are published is decided by the holder of the W-IdNr alone.

Can a GEBA be used outside Germany?

Yes. The specification covers domestic and cross-border business transactions. It is an address issued in Germany rather than one valid only in Germany, and it is registered internationally under ISO/IEC 6523 as ICD 0246.

Sources

KoSIT: German Electronic Business Address (GEBA) KoSIT: GEBA format specification v1.0.1, as of 15 December 2025, English version (PDF) OpenPeppol: Peppol BIS Billing 3.0, Electronic Address Scheme (EAS) code list BZSt: Die Wirtschafts-Identifikationsnummer, issuance, structure and notification (German) BZSt: W-IdNr questions and answers (German)

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