How to print VAT invoices that Amazon generate for us
We’ve signed up for Amazon VAT Calculation Services and they create Invoices which our customers can download themselves. Occasionally we receive a message from a customer who can’t find where to download the invoice and, no matter how often we explain that they can do this themselves, they insist that we send them the invoice directly. Obviously we could create an invoice in the way that we did before Amazon VAT Calculation Services existed but it would be much simpler for us to download and send the auto-generated invoice instead.
So my question is where do we do this? I’m sure that I’ve managed this once before but now I really can’t remember how I did this. Amazon support tell me that it is impossible for a Merchant to see the invoices which Amazon create on their behalf which sounds crazy.
Has anyone else been able to do this and, if so, how?
Many thanks
5 replies
Seller_00eWKq7PhDCXL
Hi - did you find out? I have the same issue. In the EU VAT Calculation Services Methodology (section 10) it states that invoices will be made available to you (last sentence)…I REALLY need this info for HMRC!!!
10.0 VAT Invoicing
Amazon’s VAT Calculation Services will automatically create VAT invoices and credit notes to the customer for the seller. The seller however remains the issuer of the invoice that has been generated using Amazon’s VAT Calculation Services. The seller must ensure that they no longer produce VAT invoices and credit notes for transactions that occur after enrollment within our VAT Calculation Services.
Sellers still need to provide credit notes, as required, for transactions that occurred prior to enrollment within VAT Calculation Services but which are only returned/refunded after.
Amazon’s VAT Calculation Services will create a unique VAT invoice and credit note sequence for each country within which the seller is VAT registered and which will be printed on the documents.
VAT invoices will be available for download on the Manage Your Orders pages in Seller Central.
Seller_DRI3tBe1zZBUW
I did find it in the end thanks but, strangely, I get a different result when I download that same report. Instead of a zip file containing the invoices (which is what I expected to get!) I receive a .csv file which lists the invoices which have been generated. If you open that file and scroll to the right a long way there is a column headed Invoice URL. This column contains links to allow you to download the individual pdf invoices.
I wonder why we’re getting something different to you?
I must say that it’s really not clear at all that this is what you have to do. I never even thought to open the file and scroll across to find the URL. It was only in desperation that we searched through this file.
Seller_yarfQd7J3Im93
Be very careful with this service. The way that Amazon are doing parts of it is not legal according to HMRC. If you get an order from a customer who is VAT registered in another EU country, Amazon will not charge VAT but will not supply you with the customer’s VAT number until a later date. According to HMRC, a seller must have the customer’s VAT number at the time of supply. If the seller does not have the VAT number at the time of supply then they must charge VAT, but Amazon are doing the charging, and are not charging the VAT that they should be charging because they have not supplied the seller with the VAT number yet. Acccording to HMRC VAT must be charged if the seller does not have the VAT number at the time of supply, but can be refunded at a later date when Amazon finally supply you with the VAT number. Unfortunately it is the seller that is most likely to be at risk of sanction by HMRC, not Amazon.
