Amazon VAT Guide for Sellers in Europe

Amazon VAT starts with one question: where is your stock?

Your Amazon VAT position starts with stock location, not with the marketplace website where the customer clicks buy. If your goods are stored in France, Germany, Italy, Poland or any other EU country, that country can require you to hold a local VAT number and file local VAT returns.

This is the point many sellers miss. You may sell through one Amazon seller account, use one brand and receive consolidated reports, but VAT administrations look at physical flows. Goods entering the EU, goods stored in an Amazon warehouse and goods moved between fulfilment centres all create separate VAT questions.

The practical Amazon VAT split

• Goods imported from outside the EU: customs duties, import VAT and, where relevant, IOSS or import VAT reverse charge mechanisms.
• Goods bought from an EU supplier: intra-Community acquisition reporting in the country where the goods arrive.
• Goods sold locally from stock in the same country: local VAT return in the stock country.
• Goods sold cross-border to EU private customers: OSS may apply if the sale is eligible.
• Goods transferred between Amazon warehouses in different countries: VAT reporting, ESL and Intrastat may be required.

OSS simplifies cross-border B2C sales, but not stock storage

The OSS Union scheme is useful when you sell goods from one EU country to private customers in other EU countries. Eligible sellers can report those cross-border B2C sales through one VAT registration, Amazon OSS VAT return and one payment, normally filed quarterly.

The trigger to monitor is the EU cross-border B2C threshold of EUR 10,000. Below that threshold, and subject to the detailed rules, a seller may keep applying the VAT rules of its establishment country for intra-EU distance sales. Once the threshold is exceeded, the seller normally charges VAT in the customer's country for eligible cross-border B2C sales.

OSS does not remove the need for a VAT registration in countries where you store goods. If Amazon stores your inventory in Germany, Italy and Poland, OSS will not replace German, Italian and Polish VAT registrations for those stock positions. If you want to limit VAT registrations across stock countries, review the EFN program as a potential alternative.

Where OSS works well for Amazon sellers

• Distance sales from one EU stock country to private customers in other EU countries.
• Quarterly consolidation of eligible B2C sales by country of consumption and VAT rate.
• One payment to the OSS member state of identification, which then distributes VAT to the relevant countries.

FBA and Pan-European FBA create local VAT registration duties

Amazon FBA becomes a VAT issue when inventory is stored outside your home country. With Pan-European FBA, Amazon can distribute your stock across several fulfilment centres to improve Prime delivery speed. Commercially, that can be powerful. Fiscally, each stock country normally requires Amazon VAT registration.

Before activating Pan-European FBA, check which countries Amazon may use for storage, whether you already hold VAT numbers there and whether your monthly reporting process can handle local returns. A missing VAT number can block stock activation, delay payments or create historical exposure.

What a VAT registration in a stock country usually means

• Obtaining a local VAT number before or when stock is stored there.
• Adding the VAT number in Amazon Seller Central.
• Filing local VAT returns for domestic sales, local purchases and import or acquisition flows where applicable.
• Reporting stock transfers into and out of the country.
• Keeping Amazon transaction reports and VAT calculation files as audit evidence.

The Amazon Call-Off Stock programme ended on 1 August 2024. Sellers who relied on that simplification must review their storage map and registration duties country by country.

Imports, IOSS and customs are separate from OSS

Imports into the EU are not OSS sales. When goods arrive from a non-EU country, customs duties and import VAT may apply. The customs value, origin and commodity code drive the duty calculation, and import VAT is usually based on the customs value plus duties and related costs.

IOSS can apply to imported goods sold to EU customers when the consignment value is up to EUR 150. In that case, VAT is collected at the point of sale and reported through the IOSS scheme, subject to the eligibility rules. Above EUR 150, IOSS is not available for that consignment.

For Amazon sellers, the operational risk is mixing three different flows: imported goods, EU stock sales and intra-EU distance sales. Each flow can use different evidence, different reports and different declarations.

Stock transfers must be reported, even when there is no customer sale

A Amazon FC transfers is not a sale to a customer, but it can still be a taxable movement for VAT reporting. When Amazon moves your own goods from one EU country to another, the transaction may need to be reported as a deemed intra-Community supply in the departure country and a corresponding acquisition in the arrival country.

Depending on the countries, values and reporting thresholds, you may also need ESL and Intrastat reporting. The seller must identify the value of the goods transferred, the departure country, the arrival country and the VAT number used in the arrival country.

Amazon VCS helps invoicing, but it does not replace VAT compliance

Amazon VAT Calculation Service, often called VCS, can help calculate VAT and generate invoices or receipts based on the VAT settings in Seller Central. It is useful for operational consistency, especially when products, VAT rates and customer data are correctly configured.

VCS is not a tax representative, not a VAT registration service and not a VAT return filing service. If your stock is in several countries, you still need local VAT registrations. If your cross-border B2C sales are eligible for OSS, you still need to file the OSS VAT return. If Amazon transfers stock, you still need to report those movements where required.

ViDA changes are coming, but the stock-country rule still matters

ViDA was adopted on 11 March 2025 and will roll out progressively. The reform aims to modernise VAT reporting, e-invoicing and platform economy rules across the EU. For Amazon sellers, it is a major development to monitor. See how importing goods in France works.

For now, the current stock-country registration logic remains in place until the relevant ViDA implementation changes apply. In practical terms, do not postpone VAT registrations just because future simplifications are expected. If you store goods in a country today, assess the local VAT duty today. Learn how to get a VAT number in France.

Amazon VAT checklist before you scale in Europe

• Map every country where Amazon stores or may store your inventory.
• Confirm whether you need a VAT number in each stock country.
• Separate local sales, cross-border B2C sales, B2B sales, imports and stock transfers.
• Monitor the EUR 10,000 EU cross-border B2C threshold.
• Use OSS for eligible cross-border B2C sales, normally through quarterly returns.
• Use IOSS only for eligible imported consignments up to EUR 150.
• Reconcile Amazon VCS data with VAT returns and Amazon transaction reports.
• Review stock transfers for VAT reporting, ESL and Intrastat where applicable.
• Keep evidence by reporting period, not only by payout period.

The clean setup is not complicated, but it must be disciplined. Start with VAT registration in Europe, add an OSS VAT return process where relevant, connect the IOSS scheme only for eligible imports and keep your Amazon accounting files ready for review. See our guide on Amazon C O S.