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Welcome to Amazon’s VAT Knowledge Centre
If you sell goods in any EU country, it’s likely you may be required to register for Value Added Tax (VAT) in each country you sell in.
Welcome to the Amazon VAT Knowledge Centre: a collection of resources to help support you with useful information about VAT, how it works across Europe, and whether it applies to your business.
Remember: it’s the responsibility of each Amazon seller to ensure they are VAT-compliant and you should seek professional advice if you are unsure of your obligations.
VAT stands for Value Added Tax. It’s a tax that VAT-registered traders in the EU add to the price of the goods they sell, and pass on to the national tax authorities when they file their tax returns.
We’ve partnered with tax advisory firm KPMG to put together a simple test to help you work out if you need to register for VAT. Take the test now
Should you need professional advice, Amazon sellers can take advantage of specially discounted rates with renowned advisors to help them with tax-related questions and issues.
Whether you need to register for VAT in an EU member state depends on the way you conduct your business.
The key factors that determine if you have an obligation to register for VAT are: your business’ country of establishment, the location of your inventory, and your level of sales (read more about the ‘VAT thresholds’ in EU countries).
Select from the tabs below to help you understand if you might need to register for VAT in that country.
Where is your business established?
In the UK
You need to register for VAT in the UK if:
You may also need to register for VAT separately in other EU countries if:
In a different EU Country
You need to register for VAT in the UK if:
Outside the EU
You need to register for VAT in the UK if:
You may also need to register for VAT separately in other EU countries if:
Read more in our VAT FAQ.
Once you have established you need to register for VAT in the UK, submit an application form to
the UK tax authorities. You can do this online on the HMRC (the UK tax authority) website.
At the end of the VAT registration process you will be provided with a VAT number. You can use
this to:
File VAT tax returns
to tell HMRC how much VAT you have collected and start claiming any VAT credit you may have accrued.
Issue VAT invoices
where you show the VAT collected from customers
Claim money back on your business expenses
(as well as import VAT paid at the time goods are imported into the EU). See How to claim VAT back on business expenses for more information.
If you have questions about your VAT compliance and obligations, it’s always best to seek professional advice. That’s why we’ve negotiated discounted rates for Amazon Sellers with renowned tax advisory partners. Read more about how to benefit from the discounted rates.
Note: Goods which are imported into the EU are subject to Customs duty and Import VAT.
Other useful examples
Steve is importing headphones from India (a non-EU country) and plans to sell them in the UK. To do this, Steve must present the imported products to customs so that he can pay all the necessary taxes, including VAT and, in some cases, import duty. Learn how VAT works in Europe through Steve’s business journey
If you’re VAT registered, you may be able to claim back the VAT that you have paid on business expenses. In this example we illustrate how small business owner Hillary claims back the VAT she pays whenever she incurs business expenses.
Where is your business established?
In Germany
You need to register for VAT in Germany if:
You may also need to register for VAT separately in other EU countries if:
In a different EU Country
You need to register for VAT in Germany if:
Outside the EU
You need to register for VAT in Germany if:
You may also need to register for VAT separately in other EU countries if:
Read more in our VAT FAQ.
Once you have established you need to register for VAT in Germany you are required to submit an application form to German tax authorities. Further information can be found at the BZSt, the German Federal Central Tax Office.
At the end of the VAT registration process you will be provided with a VAT number. You can use this to:
File VAT tax returns
to tell BZSt how much VAT you have collected and start claiming any VAT credit you may have accrued
Issue VAT invoices
where you show the VAT collected from customers
Claim money back on your business expenses
(as well as import VAT paid at the time goods are imported into the EU). See How to claim VAT back on business expenses for more information.
If you have questions about your VAT compliance and obligations, it’s always best to seek professional advice. That’s why we’ve negotiated discounted rates for Amazon Sellers with renowned tax advisory partners. Read more about how to benefit from the discounted rates.
Note: Goods which are imported into the EU are subject to Customs duty and Import VAT.
Other useful examples
Steve is importing headphones from India (a non-EU country) and plans to sell them in Germany. To do this, Steve must present the imported products to customs so that he can pay all the necessary taxes, including VAT and, in some cases, import duty. Learn how VAT works in Europe through Steve’s business journey
If you’re VAT registered, you may be able to claim back the VAT that you have paid on business expenses. In this example we illustrate how small business owner Hillary claims back the VAT she pays whenever she incurs business expenses.
Where is your business established?
In France
You need to register for VAT in France if:
You may also need to register for VAT separately in other EU countries if:
In a different EU Country
You need to register for VAT in France if:
Outside the EU
You need to register for VAT in France if:
You may also need to register for VAT separately in other EU countries if:
Read more in our VAT FAQ.
Once you have established you need to register for VAT in France you are required to submit an application form to French tax authorities. Further information can be found at the French Tax Administration official web page.
At the end of the VAT registration process you will be provided with a VAT number. You can use this to:
File VAT tax returns
to tell how much VAT you have collected and start claiming any VAT credit you may have accrued
Issue VAT invoices
where you show the VAT collected from customers
Claim money back on your business expenses
(as well as import VAT paid at the time goods are imported into the EU). See How to claim VAT back on business expenses for more information.
If you have questions about your VAT compliance and obligations, it’s always best to seek professional advice. That’s why we’ve negotiated discounted rates for Amazon Sellers with renowned tax advisory partners. Read more about how to benefit from the discounted rates.
Note: Goods which are imported into the EU are subject to Customs duty and Import VAT.
Other useful examples
Pierre is importing headphones from India (a non-EU country) and plans to sell them in France. To do this, Pierre must present the imported products to customs so that he can pay all the necessary taxes, including VAT and, in some cases, import duty. Learn how VAT works in Europe through Pierre’s business journey
If you’re VAT registered, you may be able to claim back the VAT that you have paid on business expenses. In this example we illustrate how small business owner Céline claims back the VAT she pays whenever she incurs business expenses.
Where is your business established?
In Italy
You need to register for VAT in Italy if:
You may also need to register for VAT separately in other EU countries if:
In a different EU Country
You need to register for VAT in Italy if:
Outside the EU
You need to register for VAT in Italy if:
You may also need to register for VAT separately in other EU countries if:
Read more in our VAT FAQ.
Once you have established you need to register for VAT in Italy you are required to submit an application form to Italian tax authorities. Further information can be found at the Italian Tax Administration official web page.
At the end of the VAT registration process you will be provided with a VAT number. You can use this to:
File VAT tax returns
to tell how much VAT you have collected and start claiming any VAT credit you may have accrued
Issue VAT invoices
where you show the VAT collected from customers
Claim money back on your business expenses
(as well as import VAT paid at the time goods are imported into the EU). See How to claim VAT back on business expenses for more information.
If you have questions about your VAT compliance and obligations, it’s always best to seek professional advice. That’s why we’ve negotiated discounted rates for Amazon Sellers with renowned tax advisory partners. Read more about how to benefit from the discounted rates.
Note: Goods which are imported into the EU are subject to Customs duty and Import VAT.
Other useful examples
Pietro is importing headphones from India (a non-EU country) and plans to sell them in Italy. To do this, Pietro must present the imported products to customs so that he can pay all the necessary taxes, including VAT and, in some cases, import duty. Learn how VAT works in Europe through Pietro’s business journey
If you’re VAT registered, you may be able to claim back the VAT that you have paid on business expenses. In this example we illustrate how small business owner Valentina claims back the VAT she pays whenever she incurs business expenses.
Where is your business established?
In Spain
You need to register for VAT in Spain if:
You may also need to register for VAT separately in other EU countries if:
In a different EU Country
You need to register for VAT in Spain if:
Outside the EU
You need to register for VAT in Spain if:
You may also need to register for VAT separately in other EU countries if:
Read more in our VAT FAQ.
Once you have established you need to register for VAT in Spain you are required to submit an application form to Spanish tax authorities. Further information can be found at the Spanish Tax Administration official web page.
At the end of the VAT registration process you will be provided with a VAT number. You can use this to:
File VAT tax returns
to tell how much VAT you have collected and start claiming any VAT credit you may have accrued
Issue VAT invoices
where you show the VAT collected from customers
Claim money back on your business expenses
(as well as import VAT paid at the time goods are imported into the EU). See How to claim VAT back on business expenses for more information.
If you have questions about your VAT compliance and obligations, it’s always best to seek professional advice. That’s why we’ve negotiated discounted rates for Amazon Sellers with renowned tax advisory partners. Read more about how to benefit from the discounted rates.
Note: Goods which are imported into the EU are subject to Customs duty and Import VAT.
Other useful examples
Alberto is importing headphones from India (a non-EU country) and plans to sell them in Spain. To do this, Alberto must present the imported products to customs so that he can pay all the necessary taxes, including VAT and, in some cases, import duty. Learn how VAT works in Europe through Alberto’s business journey
If you’re VAT registered, you may be able to claim back the VAT that you have paid on business expenses. In this example we illustrate how small business owner Ana claims back the VAT she pays whenever she incurs business expenses.
Hear what Sellers are saying about VAT
“When we first looked at the Pan-European FBA option we realised we’d
need to register for VAT in each of the countries that we were going to
be holding stock in. The VAT registration wasn’t a particularly onerous
task for us, though – it’s just a matter of a bit of extra paperwork once a
quarter.”
Zamir Cajee, CEO
iQualTech
