BadCop › Late fees by jurisdiction › Germany

Verzugszinsen: late payment interest on invoices in Germany

In Germany, section 288 of the Civil Code (BGB) gives businesses a statutory right to default interest on late B2B invoices at 9 percentage points above the Bundesbank base rate, plus a flat €40 for recovery costs, and default begins automatically 30 days after the invoice is received.

The rules

• Statutory B2B default interest: 9 percentage points above the base rate (Basiszinssatz), which the Bundesbank resets on 1 January and 1 July. With a base rate of 1.52% from 1 July 2026, that is 10.52% a year. For consumers the margin is 5 points.
• Flat compensation of €40 per late invoice when the debtor is a business, claimable without proving any dunning costs, on top of interest.
• Default starts automatically 30 days after receipt of the invoice (or of the goods or service) if the debtor is a business; no reminder (Mahnung) is required, though sending one is still normal practice.
• A higher contractual rate is allowed if agreed and not grossly unfair; the statutory rate is the floor, not a cap.
• The formal route after reminders is the court dunning procedure (Mahnverfahren), which is inexpensive and mostly online.

Configuring it in BadCop

Set late_fee_pct to the annual statutory rate divided by 12 (10.52% a year ≈ 0.88 per month) and late_fee_flat = 40. Have the final-notice template cite "Verzugszinsen gemäß § 288 Abs. 2 BGB" and the €40 pauschale under § 288 Abs. 5.

Work the numbers with the late-fee calculator, and see the final-notice template that applies the fee.

Sources

• § 288 BGB, Verzugszinsen und sonstiger Verzugsschaden (gesetze-im-internet.de)
• Zahlungsverzug im Geschäftsverkehr: was gilt? Stand 2026 (IT-Recht Kanzlei)
• Verzugszinsen B2B berechnen 2026 (kostenlose-erechnung.de)

General information, not legal advice. Verified against the sources above in September 2026; rates and rules change. If money is at stake, ask a lawyer or accountant in your jurisdiction.