Does Amazon charge VAT on Seller Fees

VAT on Amazon Seller Fees

VAT short for Value Added Tax is the consumption tax in Europe and other places.  For the sake of the article, VAT will be focusing on the Amazon marketplaces. The big question: do you pay for VAT on Amazon fees as an Amazon seller? The answer really depends on a few things.

Are you VAT registered?  If you are not VAT registered, Amazon does not have a VAT number in seller central, they will automatically charge you VAT because there is no way for them to do a reverse-charge. So once you are VAT registered, you want to get your VAT number inside Seller Central right away.

Amazon has multiple entities

Amazon has offices in Luxembourg, the United Kingdom amongst other places. If you are VAT registered, most of the seller fees are billed by Amazon’s office in Luxembourg.  If you are a UK based entity (LTD, sole trader, etc) that is VAT registered, you will not be charged VAT for these services.
Amazon does bill for sponsored ads (PPC) from their UK office, so you will be charged VAT on these sales.  Don’t worry though, you can claim those back on your VAT return.  Just make sure you remember to calculate for that or any other VAT you have been charged in order to deduct them.

From a UK business perspective

Here you can see some examples from the perspective of UK businesses where you are not being charged VAT.

Seller fees:

Amazon Global Logistics:

FBA fees

Where you are charged VAT

Amazon Ads

If you look at each of these fees posted. The only one this UK seller has been charged VAT for is the Amazon marketing services aka PPC.   To double check for your specific business just go to https://sellercentral.amazon.co.uk/tax/seller-fee-invoices.  Here you can click on each invoice Amazon has for what they billed you.  You will be able to see if any VAT has been charged for the respective service.

This should give you clarity on the VAT that is and isn't being charged for different Amazon fees for sellers.  To make sure you are calculating your VAT to file correctly, sign up for paneurovat for a free trial now.