Hi Guys

My situation is as follows

Non UK resident live in Ireland and operate my Amazon business from Northern Ireland Via a LTD company which has been vat registered since 2021 and vat paid every quarter to HMRC

FBA only business

I travel to My business address in Northern Ireland (parent home address) to deal with inbound FBA shipments/prep but only operate small business so i don't have employees so unable to provide evidence of employment.

Its looks like I be deemed not established in UK for Vat

I have no issue with amazon collecting VAT on my sales going forward as I am paying it anyway but concerned amazon demand for back payment of Vat since 2021 when it has already been paid by my company?

Anyone in same situation regarding this Vat issue? Does Amazon expect us to pay Vat twice?

Disbursements due to be locked in week or so!

Any advice is welcome

Thanks

Paddy

Dear All,

I have been selling on Amazon for over 2 years, however, just very recently I was emailed by the EU Amazon team to verify establishment for VAT Purposes. My company only has one director (me) I am British national and have only sold within the UK market and I am still not yet VAT registered as I have not yet hit the threshold.

My company is UK-based however, I have registered my business address as a virtual address for correspondence purposes. All my stock is received at my personal address.

I have provided all the documentation they have asked for however, they have determined that I am a non-UK established business which means I owe VAT on all my sales from Jan 1st 2021. This will be disastrous for me/my company.

I am reaching out to ask for advice.

Would it be wise to change my registered address to my personal address?

Would it be worth registering for VAT to support my case? (I was already thinking of registering for VAT)

Thank you.

Hi, Recently received this email (EMAIL 1):

⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄ EMAIL 1 ⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄

SUBJECT: Action Required - Your disbursements are at risk of being temporarily held

Hello,

The disbursements of part or all your Amazon sales proceeds are at risk of being temporarily withheld in all stores you operate worldwide (excluding Amazon.in), because we need to confirm whether you are established in the UK for Value Added Tax (VAT) purposes. Additionally, your Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) inventory may be temporarily blocked from removal, unless the funds withheld exceed your estimated liability.

Why did this happen?

We must collect and remit VAT from non-UK established Selling Partners for the sales of goods delivered to customers in the UK. Based on a review of your account, we determined that you may not be UK established for VAT purposes. This may have resulted in inaccurate tax treatment on your sales under the VAT on eCommerce legislation (effective 1 January 2021 in UK). We leveraged a combination of automated means and expert human review to identify this issue and make this decision. We took this action in accordance with the Amazon Business Solution Agreement: https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/help/hub/reference/G201190440 and Amazon Payments UK Agreement: https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/help/hub/reference/GTVFVCWBJ6RJGKHM.

What actions do I need to take?

To avoid further impact to your disbursements, within 30 days of this notice, go to the Account Health page in your Seller Central account https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/performance/dashboard and follow the instructions from the banner you will find at the top of the page. Complete there one of the steps below based on your determination of business establishment.

If you meet the criteria for UK establishment: Submit the required documentation. We will complete our review of your submission within 3 days. If we verify that your business is established in the UK, your Amazon sales proceeds will be eligible for disbursement per your disbursement schedule within 24 hours. Additionally, if your Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) inventory was held, it will be available for removal within 48 hours.

If you do not meet the UK establishment criteria: Verify that you are not established in the UK. In this case, you will not need to provide documentation, but you will need to address any unpaid VAT.

How do I resolve my unpaid VAT?

If you do not meet the establishment criteria, you will need to pay the VAT amount to Amazon for the historical unpaid VAT on all sales from 1 July 2021, which fall under the EU VAT on eCommerce legislation. In this case, we will send you additional information regarding next steps, including payment options, within one week of receiving your confirmation.

You can continue to sell, but your Amazon sales proceeds will remain temporarily ineligible for disbursement and any FBA inventory blocked from removal from this account, and any related accounts, until we can confirm your business establishment and the UK VAT owed is paid to Amazon.

We’re here to help.

For further information, go to the “UK VOEC: Determination of Establishment" page: https://sellercentral.amazon.co.uk/gc/vat-education/voec-uk-establishment

If you have additional questions, click the 'Contact Us' button on your Account Health page: https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/performance/dashboard to speak to an Account Health Specialist.

Sincerely,

Amazon Services Europe

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ EMAIL 1 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I am registered as a Limited Company but my threshold is under the £90,000 mark for the last 12 months.

So i sent in this submission and received this response:

⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄ RESPONSE 1 ⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄

Determining your Establishment:

I do not meet the establishment criteria.

✔️ I confirm that I do not meet UK establishment criteria for VAT purposes.

After this confirmation, Amazon will review my account’s sales activity and

advise if any VAT liability is due to Amazon for past transactions.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ RESPONSE 1 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I then received another email (EMAIL 2)

⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄ EMAIL 2 ⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄

SUBJECT: Potentially determination of non-UK establishment

Hello,

Thank you for your submission. Based on a review of your account and the information provided, we have concluded that your business is not established in the UK for Value Added Tax (VAT) purposes.

Why did this happen?

We must collect and remit VAT from non-UK established selling partners for the sales of goods delivered to customers in the UK. Based on a review of your account, we determined that you may not be UK established for VAT purposes.

This may have resulted in inaccurate tax treatment of your sales under the VAT on eCommerce legislation (effective 1 January 2021 in UK). We leveraged a combination of automated means and expert human review to identify this issue and make this decision. We took this action in accordance with the Amazon Business Solution Agreement:

https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/help/hub/reference/external/G201190440

and the APUK Agreement:

https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/help/hub/reference/G201190400

What actions do I need to take?

You will need to pay the VAT amount to Amazon for the historical unpaid VAT for the sales of goods delivered to customers in the UK on all sales from 1 January 2021, which fall under the UK VAT on eCommerce legislation. We will send you additional information regarding next steps, including payment options.

You can continue to sell, but your Amazon sales proceeds will remain temporarily ineligible for disbursement and any FBA inventory blocked from removal from this account, and any related accounts, until any UK VAT owed is paid to Amazon. Additionally, within 10 days we will begin to collect and remit VAT taxes on your future sales for goods delivered to UK customers.

Has there been an error?

If you wish to appeal this decision, reply to this email. You may be required to provide additional information and documents during an appeal process, which we will communicate to you via email.

We’re here to help

For more information, go to the "UK VOEC: Determination of Establishment":

https://sellercentral.amazon.co.uk/gc/vat-education/voec-uk-establishment

If you have additional questions and wish to speak to an Account Health specialist, go to "Contact Us" on your Account Health page:

https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/performance/dashboard?ref=ah_em_ap

Amazon Services Europe

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ EMAIL 2 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I got 4 options which were:

1. I would like more information as to how my VAT liability was calculated.

2. I disagree with how Amazon has calculated my VAT (not exactly written like this - i cannot view this page anymore)

3. I have paid VAT to HMRC directly (not exactly written like this - i cannot view this page anymore)

4. I have not yet received any VAT liability from Amazon.

5. Other (submit info) (not exactly written like this - i cannot view this page anymore)

My response first was to select 1 and i got this response (RESPONSE 2):

⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄ RESPONSE 2 ⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄

Which of the following is your enquiry related to?

I would like more information as to how my VAT liability was calculated.

Your VAT liability was calculated by assessing the sales you made to B2C

customers in the UK since January 1, 2021 for which VAT was not previously

collected by Amazon where it is payable under e-Commerce legislation.

Please note the following:

(1) Your VAT liability only includes sales of goods shipped within the EU to

B2C customers (i.e. non-VAT registered).

(2) The VAT rates applied are determined by Amazon according to EU law.

These may differ from any product tax codes you have set in Seller Central.

vat collected and paid via amazon for my account as i do not fall under vat

registrated company in uk

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ RESPONSE 2 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Then i had the option to pick one of the 4 again and I selected option 4. This is the response i got (response 3):

⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄ RESPONSE 3 ⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄⌄

Which of the following is your enquiry related to?

I have not yet received any VAT liability from Amazon.

✔️ Please note that it can take up to 7 days from determination of

non-establishment for Amazon to provide your preliminary VAT liability.

✔️ Confirm here that you have not yet received your VAT liability and are

waiting for Amazon to send.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ RESPONSE 3 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Now I am waiting for a response. Is this okay?

Would this invoice I am going to receive be already be paid for as amazon has collected these fees since I have been selling?

Thank you & have a great day!