VAT establisment but I am registered exempt

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Seller_mCom45RCB261x

VAT establisment but I am registered exempt

hello i need some help i have been backwards and forwards with amazon for 3 weeks over VAT establisment. They believe i am a non-uk business. i am a limited company set up on companies house and do not earn 85k therefore I am registered exempt from VAT (since september 2023 when i started) Amazon have said i owe £1400 in vat, is this correct or have amazon made a mistake? 

Here is email from amazon 

”Thank you for your submission. We reviewed the information provided, but we need additional documentation to determine whether you are 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. 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:”

I have sent over, my ID, business incorporation but amazon want more information to “prove I am uk established for VAT” but i am not registered for VAT can anybody please help all disbursements have been suspendedThank you for any help

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Tags:Payments, Tax documents, Taxes, Verification
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Seller_QuM1AZgzfU9x4

Firstly you are not exempt from VAT in the way you think you are. It seems you have declared exemption with Amazon but all that does is prevent them charging VAT on some fees. It doesn't make you generally exempt from VAT, nor does earning below the VAT threshold of £90k. You still pay VAT when you are below the threshold.

That exemption mechanism itself will end in August and all Amazon "VAT exemptions" will be stopped due to a change in the way Amazon will be billing.

As for being established in the UK, simply having a limited company registered at CH doesn't make you established in the UK for VAT purposes

Amazon asked for some evidence of your establishment and it seems they want to see something more as what you provided wasn't enough.

I suppose the starting point is are you actually established in the UK as per HMRC guidelines?

From HMRC:

"A UK establishment exists if either the:

  • place where essential management decisions are made and the business’s central administration is carried out is in the UK
  • business has a permanent physical presence with the human and technical resources to make or receive taxable supplies in the UK

We would normally consider a company which is incorporated in the UK to have an establishment in the UK as long as is it also able to make or receive business supplies at its registered business address. A registered, serviced or virtual office alone is not enough to create a business establishment.

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