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# Understanding VAT on Bookings, Extras, and Commissions in Germany

Navigating taxes for event bookings and platform fees can be tricky, especially when dealing with cross-border transactions. Below, we’ve broken down how EU and German VAT rules apply to your room rentals, catering extras, and our platform commission.

🍽️ For Bookers: VAT on Event Services & Extras
**Q: Why are food and drink extras usually taxed at 19% instead of 7%?**
**A:** Under German tax law, an event booking is generally viewed as a "single complex supply" (*einheitliche Leistung*). Because the primary purpose of the booking is the room rental—which requires the standard 19% VAT rate—any additional services added to that event, such as food, drinks, or standard equipment, automatically inherit that 19% rate.
**Q: Can food ever be taxed at 7% on an event booking?**
**A:** Yes, but only if the space provider actively decouples the catering from the room rental and invoices it as a strictly separate service. Note that in Germany, beverages are always taxed at 19%, even if the food portion is separated to qualify for 7%. Spacebase defaults to the 19% package rate, but providers can explicitly set the VAT of specific food extras to 7% in their space settings.

**Q: I am an international company booking a space in Germany. Does the Reverse Charge mechanism apply so I don't have to pay German VAT?**
**A:** No. Under EU VAT law, services connected to real estate (like room rentals) and physical catering are exceptions to standard cross-border B2B rules. The place of supply is always where the physical property is located. Therefore, if the space is in Germany, German VAT must be charged on the invoice, regardless of where your company is based. You must pay the VAT and can reclaim it later through the EU cross-border VAT refund procedure.