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VAT establishment in the UK for VAT purposes
Amazon has informed us that our disbursements could be temporarily withheld worldwide due to questions about our VAT establishment in the UK and that if we cannot verify being established in the UK they will demand the ‘unpaid’ VAT from us.
Our business is a UK Limited company, VAT registered for over 6 years, and legally compliant with all VAT requirements. However, we use a registered office address, and Amazon is requesting proof of a physical operating address. They won’t accept any documentation other than a rental agreement or utility bill, which I can't provide since our registered business address is not our operational location. I believe I'm not alone in using a registered office for business registration to avoid listing my home address on public records like Companies House.
I sell on multiple platforms, not just Amazon, so I must also consider our legal obligations for VAT registration related to our direct-to-consumer and business-to-business sales.
I am puzzled because I assumed that HMRC would govern our VAT registration requirements due to our specific circumstances. We fulfill UK orders using both Amazon FBA and a UK-based third-party logistics warehouse, with all UK orders dispatched domestically.
After extensive discussions with an account specialist, it seems Amazon will only accept specific documents like a rental agreement or utility bill for verification. Unfortunately, I cannot provide these for my registered office and am unable to switch the address to my UK home address at this stage of verification.
The registered business address is a real address and does have secretarial address services like mail scanning and forwarding but I just don’t physically work from it so don’t have a rental agreement or utility bill.
I have documents like tax letters and bank statements at my UK home address and business address in the UK yet no utility bill or rental document for our registered business address (which Amazon require). Have you heard of Amazon making any exceptions for situations like ours, where we can demonstrate operational presence in the UK from our 3PL warehouse and home address (work from home)?
Any guidance or suggestions would be greatly appreciated🙏
2 replies
Seller_Bh95sVfDX2DJn
Hello
Even Today I received the Same email
Sarah_Amzn
Hello @Seller_lq7Yg8ROvo8hb,
This is Sarah from Amazon.
I see that you have already created a thread regarding this topic.
Please create only one thread per question. Creating duplicate threads can create confusion and disruption in the Forums and is against the Forums Guidelines.
I will be closing this thread as a duplicate of Need Help with VAT Establishment Verification Using a Virtual Office Address
Regards,
Sarah.
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