Alternatives to ShareIt/MyCommerce/Digital River

[virtualdj]

Mor (Merchant of Records) like Digital River (and fastspring, paypro, 2checkout, etc), are not like PSP (Payment Service Provider) like Ayden etc, they do not process payment for you like a financial institution. They buy the product (software licenses) from you, and sell it back to customers.
The fact that you're the one sending the customers to them is irrelevant, they're acting as the seller, not you.

[Gh65b]

Hi! Thanks for the feedback Christian67587! Perhaps there is a German businessperson here, who can explain to me (more details) how to deal with PayPro Global Payouts correctly? Do you then create a VAT-free invoice to PayPro Global to make it watertight for the tax office in Germany? Or how else will the pure payments be recorded in Germany? I think just receiving an "Acceptance Letter" without the word "credit" (GUTSCHRIFT) is too shallow for the German tax authorities and could trigger additional VAT payments. My opinion!

[Pozo]

My tax consultant told me I shall create an invoice with the notice „Steuerschuldnerschaft des Leistungsempfängers – reverse charge“.

Then it should be fine.

[sft234]

The insolvency proceedings have now been initiated:
https://e-justice.europa.eu/iri/integra ... ingJS=true

[Christian67587]

let me copy and paste:

Germany

Opening date: 05/02/2025
Case number: 70c IN 14/25
Type: Das Insolvenzverfahren
Jurisdiction: Main Insolvency Proceedings
Legal person/Company

Name: Digital River GmbH
Registration number: AG Köln HRB 56188
Postal Address: Scheidtweilerstraße 4 Köln 50933 DE
Court

Name: Amtsgericht Köln

Given name(s): Claus-Peter
Surname: Kruth
Address: Hohenzollernring 49 Köln 50672 DE
Information for appeal

Court

Name: Amtsgericht Köln

[buttermilk]

You forgot "Information for lodging claim" which unfortunately is not provided there.

[OliverDocklight]

German insolvency announcement from the official resource: https://neu.insolvenzbekanntmachungen.de/ap/suche.jsf

=======================

Amtsgericht Köln, Aktenzeichen: 70c IN 14/25

In dem Insolvenzeröffnungsverfahren über das Vermögen

der im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Köln unter HRB 56188 eingetragenen Digital River GmbH, Scheidtweilerstraße 4, 50933 Köln, gesetzlich vertreten durch den Geschäftsführer Herrn Keith Alan Bush, Scheidtweilerstraße 4, 50933 Köln

ist am 14.02.2025, um 11:24 Uhr angeordnet worden (§§ 21, 22 InsO):
Zum vorläufigen Insolvenzverwalter wird Rechtsanwalt Dr. Claus-Peter Kruth, Hohenzollernring 49, 50672 Köln bestellt.
Verfügungen der Schuldnerin über Gegenstände ihres Vermögens sind nur noch mit Zustimmung des vorläufigen Insolvenzverwalters wirksam (§ 21 Abs. 2 Nr. 2 2. Alt. InsO).
Den Schuldnern der Schuldnerin (Drittschuldnern) wird verboten, an die Schuldnerin zu zahlen. Der vorläufige Insolvenzverwalter wird ermächtigt, Bankguthaben und sonstige Forderungen der Schuldnerin einzuziehen sowie eingehende Gelder entgegenzunehmen. Die Drittschuldner werden aufgefordert, nur noch unter Beachtung dieser Anordnung zu leisten (§ 23 Abs. 1 Satz 3 InsO).

70c IN 14/25
Amtsgericht Köln, 05.02.2025

[OliverDocklight]

Hi! Thanks for the feedback Christian67587! Perhaps there is a German businessperson here, who can explain to me (more details) how to deal with PayPro Global Payouts correctly? Do you then create a VAT-free invoice to PayPro Global to make it watertight for the tax office in Germany?

German business here and rather a question - Do you use PayPro as MoR / Merchant of Record?
https://payproglobal.com/products/merchant-of-record/
(same as Digital River was and fastspring is)
Until now I thought PayPro Global Payouts is only a payment processor, but now I see they can act as MoR , too.

If it's "only" a payment processor for you, then the invoice is between you and the end customer, and some platforms have tools to create the invoices in your name. I think Paypal has such invoicing tools, or amazon on their seller platform, or I know it from upwork.com, who create invoices in the name of their freelancers. I couldn't really figure this out from the PayPro Global Payout docs.

Happy to learn some more details here.

[alexgn]

Hi! Thanks for the feedback Christian67587! Perhaps there is a German businessperson here, who can explain to me (more details) how to deal with PayPro Global Payouts correctly? Do you then create a VAT-free invoice to PayPro Global to make it watertight for the tax office in Germany? Or how else will the pure payments be recorded in Germany? I think just receiving an "Acceptance Letter" without the word "credit" (GUTSCHRIFT) is too shallow for the German tax authorities and could trigger additional VAT payments. My opinion!

I don't know how PayPro works. Currently we switched to Fastspring.
In Fastspring we can create payout reports similar to the credit notes which we got from DigitalRiver/ShareIT. We will use those reports for bookkeeping, in addition to the payout reports to our bank account.
The VAT situation is different here. With DR we were doing business with their German GmbH in Cologne. This is why they had VAT on their Creditnotes. When you do business directly with non EU customers and US companies like Fastspring or Paypro that do not have a German subsidiary for this then there is no VAT on invoices.

[Gh65b]

PayPro Global is the invoice creator for all orders, not me (or you). They act as MoR and do transfer the TAX to the countries tax centers. You only get the net amount from these sales (but without a letter "Gutschrift").

But PPG acts from canada a third party country and B2B connection between you and them.

So the income for you (that payout PPG to you) is not taxable in Germany if you act from there because licenses are ("Sonstige Leistungen").

My question was, how the others here book that. Do they invoice PPG the amount without tax and then inform the tax center here in germany. Or am I wrong here.

What fields are to use in the "Umsatzssteuervoranmeldung" (Elster) for that? Thanks to all that clear and share infos.

[alexgn]

PayPro Global is the invoice creator for all orders, not me (or you). They act as MoR and do transfer the TAX to the countries tax centers. You only get the net amount from these sales (but without a letter "Gutschrift").

But PPG acts from canada a third party country and B2B connection between you and them.

So the income for you (that payout PPG to you) is not taxable in Germany if you act from there because licenses are ("Sonstige Leistungen").

My question was, how the others here book that. Do they invoice PPG the amount without tax and then inform the tax center here in germany. Or am I wrong here.

It works similar with Fastspring. But with Fastspring we can create the payout reports which are similar to the DR creditnotes. This is what we use in the books, we don't create our own invoices and see those reports as a creditnote (Gutschrift).

What fields are to use in the "Umsatzssteuervoranmeldung" (Elster) for that? Thanks to all that clear and share infos.

see here, I think it should be 45:
https://www.ihk.de/hannover/hauptnaviga ... tleInText3

[Gh65b]

Sure if the payout report is similar to shareIt and does contents the important word "Gutschrift" then it should be right. But PPG only creates a so spoken "Acceptance Letter" and this is not enough in my understanding. So I have to create a invoice for every "PPG Payout" to PPG (without tax) by the note of "Steuerschuldnerschaft des Leistungsempfängers / Tax liability of the service recipient - reverse charge." Then I can book that in my accounting software and set field 45 on Elster "Umsatzssteuervoranmeldung". That seems the right way to be here with PPG.

As a German company, it is also necessary to ensure that the company is a company in Canada. You may have to provide proof of this to the tax office. I then thought of this site:

https://canadasbusinessregistries.ca/se ... BPayPro%7D

I would also list in those invoices the Canadian business number as a counterpart to my German tax number.

Then it should be "save"...I mean...

[alexgn]

Sure if the payout report is similar to shareIt and does contents the important word "Gutschrift" then it should be right. But PPG only creates a so spoken "Acceptance Letter" and this is not enough in my understanding.

the reports say "Paypot", not "Creditnote", "Gutschrift" or similar.

This tax stuff and German bureaucracy is a pain when you do international business. They could complain about many documents that are not 100% correct.

[ssec]

German insolvency announcement from the official resource: https://neu.insolvenzbekanntmachungen.de/ap/suche.jsf

=======================

Amtsgericht Köln, Aktenzeichen: 70c IN 14/25

In dem Insolvenzeröffnungsverfahren über das Vermögen

der im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Köln unter HRB 56188 eingetragenen Digital River GmbH, Scheidtweilerstraße 4, 50933 Köln, gesetzlich vertreten durch den Geschäftsführer Herrn Keith Alan Bush, Scheidtweilerstraße 4, 50933 Köln

ist am 14.02.2025, um 11:24 Uhr angeordnet worden (§§ 21, 22 InsO):
Zum vorläufigen Insolvenzverwalter wird Rechtsanwalt Dr. Claus-Peter Kruth, Hohenzollernring 49, 50672 Köln bestellt.
Verfügungen der Schuldnerin über Gegenstände ihres Vermögens sind nur noch mit Zustimmung des vorläufigen Insolvenzverwalters wirksam (§ 21 Abs. 2 Nr. 2 2. Alt. InsO).
Den Schuldnern der Schuldnerin (Drittschuldnern) wird verboten, an die Schuldnerin zu zahlen. Der vorläufige Insolvenzverwalter wird ermächtigt, Bankguthaben und sonstige Forderungen der Schuldnerin einzuziehen sowie eingehende Gelder entgegenzunehmen. Die Drittschuldner werden aufgefordert, nur noch unter Beachtung dieser Anordnung zu leisten (§ 23 Abs. 1 Satz 3 InsO).

70c IN 14/25
Amtsgericht Köln, 05.02.2025

How do we search it up to find the contact details for the insolvency administrators? thanks!

[fuseaudiolabs]

Hi ssec,

How do we search it up to find the contact details for the insolvency administrators? thanks!

Select "Nordrhein-Westfalen" under "Bundesland", enter 01.01.2025 as the start date and then search for "Digital River GmbH" under "Frima/Nachname" and you'll find it.

At this point you won't find anything beyond the quoted content. In Germany, it's common practice to be contacted by the insolvency administrator if you're a creditor.

Best,
Ray