Sprecho is sold by Melo Designer GmbH, a German company, so German VAT rules apply. What you actually pay depends on one thing: the country in your billing address — with a verified VAT ID as the second factor for EU businesses.
The four cases
| Your situation | German VAT | On the invoice |
|---|---|---|
| Germany, private or business | 19% | Standard German invoice |
| EU business outside Germany, VAT ID verified | 0% | Reverse charge — you account for VAT yourself |
| EU consumer outside Germany, or an unverified ID | 19% | German VAT |
| Outside the EU (Switzerland, UK, US …) | 0% | Not taxable in Germany |
Note that the country decides first, not the VAT ID. Entering a VAT ID does not by itself remove VAT — a German business with a German VAT ID still pays 19%, because the supply is domestic.
Entering your VAT ID
- Open Sprecho and go to Settings → Plans & Billing.
- Open Billing Address.
- Switch on Purchase as a company.
- Fill in Company and VAT ID, and make sure Country is correct.
- Click Save.
The ID is checked against the EU's VIES service when you save, and the result is shown straight away:
- Reverse charge applied — no VAT charged. The ID was verified.
- We couldn't verify this VAT ID — VAT will apply. Check for typos, and
include the country prefix (for example
NL803310948B01). - Non-EU business — not taxable in Germany.
- German VAT applies.
VIES is an EU service and it goes down or throttles. If verification does not come back, Sprecho leaves your stored status alone rather than marking the ID invalid — save again in a few minutes. Do this before checkout, because the treatment is fixed at the moment you pay.
Gross versus net
The public pricing page shows prices including VAT, which is what a private customer in Germany actually pays.
The checkout always breaks the amount down before you confirm:
- Subtotal (net)
- any coupon discount
- VAT (19%) — or "VAT (0%) — reverse charge (EU business)", or "VAT (0%) — not taxable in Germany (non-EU business)"
- Total
So a German business sees the net figure and reclaims the 19% as input tax, and an EU business with a verified ID sees 0% and the net figure is the total.
The order summary also shows the equivalent monthly figure on an annual plan, so you can compare the two intervals honestly.
What the invoice says
Invoices are issued with your company name, address and VAT ID as entered, and carry the appropriate note:
- Reverse charge — "VAT is accounted for by the recipient."
- Third country — "Tax-free supply to a third-country business."
Download them as PDFs under Settings → Plans & Billing → Invoice History. See Payment methods and invoices.
Pay by invoice for Enterprise
Enterprise team purchases can pay by invoice and bank transfer instead of a card. Choose Invoice at the payment step: Sprecho emails the invoice, payment terms are 14 days, and the licences activate automatically as soon as the transfer arrives.
This suits organisations whose procurement will not put a company card into a web checkout. It is not offered for personal Pro subscriptions.
If the details on an issued invoice are wrong
Update your billing address first, so future invoices are correct, then contact support about the invoice that has already been issued. A German invoice cannot be edited after the fact — it is corrected by a credit note and a replacement, which is why getting the address right before checkout saves everyone time.