Amazon FBA and VAT: Tips to save some money

Increasingly, Amazon sellers are utilizing the Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) service. Those who use this service allow Amazon to handle the entire logistics for them, including withdrawals when selling on the US marketplace. But if you believe that your role in this service is limited to manufacturing and advertising the products, you are mistaken. Especially the topic of Amazon FBA vat compliance should not be underestimated.

⚠️ Updated for September 2025: Amazon FBA sellers must now be aware of key VAT changes, including the OSS €10,000 threshold (only for EU-based sellers), fiscal representative obligations in some countries, and the upcoming VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) reforms introducing digital reporting and e-invoicing across Europe.

Amazon FBA Sales Tax/VAT

There are numerous legal requirements and regulations to be observed regarding value-added tax (VAT). To protect yourself from financial risks, you need to take a closer look at VAT compliance in Europe more closely.

The first step, which must be completed before trading on Amazon, is to register the company with the tax office. In the future, incoming and outgoing sales must be regularly presented to the tax office. Further, the sales tax charged on the sale must also be declared. The same applies to the course of input tax deduction for the naming of VAT on incoming invoices.

If goods are sold not only in the home country but also in other EU countries, the respective company must register for VAT in each destination country and observe the local regulations. This regulation applies unless a registration for the One-Stop-Shop exists. You can find more information about the One-Stop-Shop for Amazon sellers on our blog.

Storage in Poland and the Czech Republic leads to VAT liabilities

Important for 2025: Some EU countries, such as Italy and the Netherlands, require non-EU businesses to appoint a fiscal representative for VAT compliance. These rules have been tightened in 2025, and in some cases, additional guarantees may apply. Always check local requirements before expanding storage under Amazon FBA.

Those who want to benefit from the lowest FBA fees should store their goods in warehouses in Poland or the Czech Republic and send them from there.

To do this, the company must be registered for VAT in the respective countries and submit VAT advance returns and other reports there accordingly.

It doesn’t matter whether a product is affected by it or a hundred, and whether a cent is sold with it or many thousand euros. Either way, registration and pre-registration are required by law.

If the seller permanently stores products with the help of FBA in one of Amazon’s warehouses in another EU country, this delivery is exempt from VAT. It is referred to as a delivery by the seller to himself. However, this does not exempt him from the obligation to record this delivery in advance VAT returns and in EC Sales Lists.

It is further necessary to issue an invoice to oneself, a so-called pro forma invoice, and to note it as an intra-community acquisition in the VAT advance return of the recipient country.

Delivery thresholds in foreign countries

Update for 2025: As of July 2021, the country-specific delivery thresholds no longer apply. Instead, a single EU-wide threshold of €10,000 applies only for EU-based sellers using the OSS scheme. Non-EU sellers, including those using Amazon FBA, usually need to register for VAT locally in each country where goods are stored or delivered, regardless of their annual turnover.

Until July 2021, when you reached the so-called VAT registration threshold when selling abroad, you had to register for and pay taxes abroad as well. These thresholds varied from country to country. However, those who did not reach and fell below the delivery thresholds paid the taxes themselves as usual in the country of origin.

These were the previous country-specific delivery thresholds:

• Germany: EUR 100,000
• Belgium: 35.000,- EUR
• Denmark: DKK 280,000
• Estonia: 35.000,- EUR
• Finland: 35.000,- EUR
• France: 35.000,- EUR
• Italy: 35.000,- EUR
• Luxembourg: 100.000,- EUR
• Netherlands: 100.000,- EUR
• Austria: 35.000,- EUR
• Poland: 160.000,- PLN
• Portugal: 35.000,- EUR

The delivery thresholds referred to the annual net sales, including packaging costs, and applied only to the sale of products to end consumers. Deliveries to companies in other EU countries were not affected.

In July 2021, the country-specific delivery thresholds were abolished in favor of a single EU-wide threshold of €10,000. This threshold is reached by B2C cross-border sales to all foreign European countries combined and, therefore, crossed much faster. Once it is reached, VAT registrations, returns, and the payment of VAT to the local authorities are mandatory in all countries to which goods are delivered.

Appointing a VAT accountant

To maintain an overview and minimize the risk of missed transactions, many companies rely on the services of tax consultants. However, depending on the turnover and number of sales, these services can quickly result in very high costs, significantly decreasing the overall margin. 

Tax offices check the money and goods traffic

The tax office is anything but squeamish when it comes to offences. Concealing transactions is now severely punished – and the argument of not having known better does not count. Anyone who sells on Amazon is obligated to comply with the regulations. Otherwise, severe penalties are to be expected.

Even with small turnovers, it should not be assumed that the tax office is not interested in them or cannot notice them.

The tax offices regularly request information from Amazon about its sellers and obtain, for example, information about all companies that meet the required sales volume to be subject to taxation.

Other EU countries are also becoming inventive in tracking down potential tax fraudsters – whether knowingly or unknowingly.

For example, in more and more EU countries, marketplace operators are being held responsible for ensuring that tax is paid. Consequently, traders now have to prove to marketplace operators that they are registered for VAT. The local regulations have always be observed.

New developments in 2025: The EU’s VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) package, adopted in March 2025, will gradually introduce real-time digital reporting and mandatory e-invoicing across member states between 2028 and 2035. Sellers using Amazon FBA should prepare now by ensuring their VAT software and invoicing systems are future-proof.

Amazon FBA Tax Software

With the hellotax Amazon FBA tax software, you can take care of your filings (Amazon FBA tax filings) and, in general, take care of all VAT tasks and everything related to Amazon FBA sales tax duties.

Summary

In order to be on the legally safe side with Amazon FBA in terms of taxes, the following topics must be kept in mind:

• Compliance with VAT and fiscal representative rules (where required)

• Registration in all storage and destination countries — OSS €10,000 threshold applies only to EU-based sellers

• Preparation for upcoming ViDA reforms, including digital reporting and e-invoicing

• The correct submission of VAT returns and other mandatory filings

🚀 Selling with Amazon FBA in Europe comes with strict VAT rules. Don’t let compliance slow you down—hellotax automates your VAT filings and registrations so you can focus on growing your business. Get started today.