Can Amazon Germany ship without VAT? Detailed answer

If you want to open a store and sell things on Amazon, you must first choose a site, then do market research, and choose the products you want to sell. The second thing is to understand Amazon's shipping rules and logistics costs. So can Amazon Germany ship without VAT?

1. Goods cannot be shipped without VAT. German Amazon stores require VAT, but freight forwarders can deliver goods to Amazon warehouses. Once there is no tax number and the goods arrive at Amazon, Amazon will immediately close the store.

2. Customers can ship to Amazon warehouses with or without tax inclusion. If there is no tax number, the shipment will be blocked regardless of whether the tax is included or not. If there is a tax number, but the customer does not want a tax refund, it is acceptable to use the freight forwarder's VAT number.

Additional information:

German Tax Obligations - Pursuant to the amendments to the German VAT Act (Section 22f UStG), Amazon must obtain a tax certificate from sellers who are required to be tax registered in Germany, or a formal confirmation that the seller has not generated any taxable sales in Germany. All sellers should take action immediately. If you are required to be tax registered in Germany, please upload your German Tax Certificate (F22).

If you are not required to register for German tax, you must confirm that you do not generate taxable sales in Germany. Sellers outside the European Economic Area who fail to comply with the above requirements will no longer be able to sell on Amazon.de or to customers in Germany. Sellers in the European Economic Area (including Germany) have until October 1, 2019 to take action.

The core of the above words is two aspects.

1. If the seller uses Amazon's German FBA warehouse, or uses an overseas warehouse located in Germany, then he is obliged to pay taxes and must register for a VAT tax number. Without it, he cannot sell products on the German site.

2. If you do not use warehouse services in Germany, such as shipping from domestic or shipping from other European countries to Germany, you do not need to pay taxes. But this is a prerequisite. First, you must sign a "German Tax Disclaimer" and only ship from outside Germany.

Generally speaking, Amazon Germany cannot ship goods without VAT. Even if you ship goods yourself, you still need to register for VAT. As long as you are a seller on the German site, no matter how much sales you make, you must have a German VAT number!