Amazon Handmade seller: "Additional information is required to verify your account"
Hi - I’ve been selling via Amazon Handmade for about 3 years and have suddenly got the dreaded “Additional information is required to verify your account” message.
I’m registered as a Professional seller with Amazon, with a business account. I’ve been running a UK sole trader business for about 10 years and am registered with HMRC and have been using my current business name (LaserSister) for about 5 years. I’m not VAT registered.
In Seller Central I’ve got a message saying they requre identity information:
…and if I click into that red message it shows that I’m a sole proprietor:
Amazon’s messages say that these are the documents they will accept as business verification documents:
– One of the following documents issued by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) within the last year:
- Class 2 National Insurance Contributions (NICs) Bill
- Online VAT Certificate
- Self-Assessment notice to complete a tax return
- Letter confirming your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) number
- Self Assessment Statement
- Short Tax Return.
We can also accept the following documents issued by HMRC:
- Certificate of Registration for Value Added Tax (VAT)
- “Welcome to Self-Assessment” letter confirming your UTR number
- Letter confirming your VAT number, following a VAT1 application.
If you are unable to provide any of these documents, you can request a Confirmation of Unique Taxpayer Reference letter by calling HMRC and asking for the “Self-Assessment Department”. The letter may take two weeks to arrive by mail.
I’ve tried uploading some documents (1st page of tax return, email receipt from HMRC for my Class 2 NI voluntary contributions, and a self-assessment notice from this year to complete a tax return) but they’ve been rejected. No specific reason has been given, except that “The business document you provided was not one of the accepted types of document.”
Because I haven’t been given a specific reason for the rejections, I don’t know what the problem is with the documents, or how to fix it. I’ve tried Amazon’s support people, but (surpriiiiiiiise) they replied with the copied-and-pasted list of documents above. So here I am on the forum again, asking the experts 
Could the problem be that all of my HMRC documentation is addressed to my actual name, rather than my business name? If so, surely it will be impossible to ever fulfill Amazon’s document requirements, because the only place that HMRC seem to display my business name is in a textbox on my tax return?
Has anyone else had this problem and been able to fix it? Amazon are threatening to deactivate my account and not send me any of my disbursements, so I’d like to find an answer please! I’ve done a quick search of other messages on this forum but can’t see any that seem to match my problem.
Thanks for any help.
18 replies
Seller_qZO3ZCjoBXEeL
Not usually. As you say for Self-Employed this would be an impasse.
Typically it is incomplete or mis-matched documents - does the name and address exactly (including abbreviations and middle names) match on the letter/statement and what is set on Amazon?
I don’t believe email/electronic documents are accepted, it has to be scans or photos of paper documents - usually all pages, not just the 1st page.
Seller_7VbclcPFFRTnc
One document that has always been accepted , even when tax returns have been rejected , is the confirmation of UTR letter from HMRC which you can call them to send out today
Seller_HIAF1f8ZYcY5w
Hi @LaserSister
Thank you for reaching out to the forums community, we appreciate the views and efforts of @PeterB
As appropriately mentioned by @The_Little_Shop regarding the Unique Taxpayer Reference letter (as mentioned in the performance notification you’ve shared) please do ensure the following while you submit the documents to remain compliant with the requirements.
-
The document must show the business name and address, as well as the provider’s logo.
-
The document must not be a screenshot, Documents must be scanned or photographed.
-
The document must be in one of our supported languages.
The supported languages are English, Chinese, Dutch, German, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, French, Turkish, Polish, Portuguese, Arabic, Hindi, Tamil, Vietnamese, Thai, and Japanese. If the original document is not in a supported language, please provide a copy of both the original document and a certified translation.
In addition:
- All images must be clear and legible
- Document must match given details in your account
- All documents must be in color, black and white are not accepted
- Image must cover the whole document.
- Documents must be less than 10MB ( megabytes ) in size
- Documents can be .png, .tiff, .jpg, .jpeg, or .pdf
Note: Kindly refer to the entire performance notification as we provide alternatives as well when requesting the submission for your feasibility.
Kindly post in the same thread for any additional assistance we would be more than happy to assist you.
Regards,
Xavier
Seller_OzNi7bpdncfnX
Hello @LaserSister,
This is Wade from Amazon here to assist you today.
Thank you for providing insight into your current account status.
From the Settings tab, click Account Info and then, from the Seller Account Information page, click each section that you want to update. If your information has already been verified or the verification process has not yet started, you will be able to update your information. Any updates are subject to verification. Depending on our verification results, you may be asked to provide additional information.
If you have already submitted the requested information, please be advised that while information is being verified, you cannot edit or make changes.
If the team requires additional information, you will be notified via the email address provided at registration as well as via the notification field in Seller Central. You can also see what additional information is required by clicking Account Info on the Settings tab. Look for the sections highlighted in red.
You will also receive detailed guidance in your performance notifications.
Please feel free to post in the same thread for any further queries regarding this issue.
The forums community and I are here to support you. Please let us know how we can help you from this point forward.
Thanks & Regards,
Wade.
Seller_k6eoEUabo3Exy
Hello @LaserSister,
I’m Noor from Amazon, here to assist you.
We understand that you have registered with your business name and do not have documentations on the same name that are validated for verification process as mentioned in the performance notification.
Will you able to provide any documents that can prove that you are the owner of the business name that you have registered with?
If yes, kindly provide the documents that can prove the above, so that the team can verify the same.
Will you able to provide the above mentioned document as well?
Additionally, I would suggest you to raise a case from here and describe the everything in detail and also attach the documents in the case, so that the team can further review it.
Please feel free to contact us here in seller forums if you have more questions or concerns.
Thanks & Regards,
Noor
