Cash Register Mandate 2027 in Germany: What businesses need to know

Germany may finally be catching up: a draft bill would introduce a cash register mandate from January 2027. Businesses with an annual revenue of more than €100,000 are set to be required to use tamper-proof electronic cash registers. This emerges from a draft bill by the Federal Ministry of Finance, following commitment of the coalition, and reported on by the news agency Reuters. At the same time, the draft envisages relaxing the receipt issuance requirement for small amounts. One important note up front: this is a draft, not applicable law. Who would be affected, what is set to change and how you can prepare — here's an overview.

What is the Federal Ministry of Finance planning?

The Ministry wants to tighten the recording of cash transactions. At the heart of the draft is a requirement for electronic cash register management for businesses with annual revenue above €100,000 that currently still operate without such a system. The stated goal: making tax evasion significantly harder.

So far, there has been no general obligation in Germany to use an electronic cash register. Anyone working with an open till is, in principle, allowed to do so. That is precisely what would change for businesses above the proposed threshold.

Important context: the draft marks the very start of the legislative process. Before it could potentially be adopted, its content, thresholds and deadlines may still change considerably — or be dropped altogether. All of the following refers to the current draft stage and is not an applicable law.

Who is affected by the 2027 cash register mandate?

The planned requirement is tied to annual revenue: it affects businesses with more than €100,000 in annual revenue that do not yet use an electronic cash register. With this, lawmakers are targeting companies that exceed the small-business threshold but continue to settle transactions in cash.

Two groups should pay especially close attention:

• Retailers and businesses that will need to convert their cash register management and purchase a compliant system.
• Cash register manufacturers and POS providers, whose customers will soon be asking for legally compliant solutions on short notice.

Anyone already operating an electronic cash register with a certified technical security system (TSS) is on the safe side.

What is planned for the receipt issuance requirement?

The draft also envisages relaxing the receipt issuance requirement for small amounts: below a de minimis threshold of €30, it would no longer be mandatory to issue a tax receipt. In the long term, the goal is to replace all paper receipts, regardless of the amount, by digital alternatives, for example via QR code.

This point is not uncontested. Supporters point to less paper and reduced day-to-day effort, particularly in small-scale retail. From a fiscalization perspective, however, watering down the receipt issuance requirement is to be viewed critically: the issued receipt is a central transparency and control instrument that underpins the seamless recording of revenue. An exemption for small amounts can weaken this principle — and thus stands in a certain tension with the actual goal of the law, namely making tax evasion harder.

The crucial distinction: even if receipt issuance is relaxed, the recording obligation within the system remains untouched. Every transaction must still be recorded correctly and secured against tampering via the TSS — regardless of whether a receipt is printed.

What penalties apply for violations?

The draft sets a clear signal. Anyone who refuses to comply with the cash register mandate faces a fine of up to €25,000. Active manipulation is hit even harder: offering or using manipulation software is set to count as a tax offence and could be punishable by a prison sentence of up to five years. This puts the unalterability of the cash register data centre stage — precisely the protection that a certified TSS ensures technically.

Why Germany is now tightening the rules

The planned cash register mandate is the continuation of a longer journey. Since 2020, the Cash Register Anti-Tampering Ordinance (KassenSichV) has required a certified TSS; since 2025, a reporting requirement for electronic cash register systems has also applied. With the 2027 cash register mandate, lawmakers are now closing the last major gap — the previously voluntary use of electronic cash registers. According to the Federal Government, the economy is expected to be relieved by around €89 million per year despite the one-off cost of converting. The direction is clear: cash transactions in Germany are being recorded step by step in a fully digital and tamper-proof way.

What businesses and cash register manufacturers should do now

Even though the draft is not yet final, preparation is worthwhile — it avoids the bottleneck shortly before the deadline.

For businesses: Check whether your turnover is above the €100,000 threshold, whether your system uses a certified TSS and records in a DSFinV-K-compliant way — and budget time and money for a possible conversion.

For cash register manufacturers and POS providers: Provide a certified TSS connection without additional hardware, and expect rising demand from first-time adopters.

This is exactly where cloud-based fiscalization comes in. With SIGN DE, fiskaly provides an API-first TSS that requires no additional hardware and integrates directly into existing cash register systems — signatures and DSFinV-K-compliant data storage run through a single interface, scalable from a single location to a chain of branches. For POS providers, that means: integrate once, make many customers compliant.

Conclusion: Prepare without rushing ahead

The 2027 cash register mandate could mark the end of Germany's solo path on cash transactions — for businesses with turnover above the  €100,000 threshold, the electronic, tamper-proof cash register would become mandatory. The likewise planned relaxation of the receipt issuance requirement for transactions below €30, by contrast, is to be viewed critically, because it could weaken an important transparency instrument. Above all, one thing is clear: nothing has been decided yet — the draft must first pass through the legislative process. But businesses that review their cash register landscape now and opt for a certified, cloud-based solution are well positioned for any outcome.

Want to know how to make your cash registers compliant without additional hardware? Talk to our team about SIGN DE.

As of: June 2026. Based on the draft bill of the Federal Ministry of Finance. This article is for information purposes and does not replace tax advice.