You download a sales report from Seller Central, put it next to your VAT returns, and the numbers do not match. Before you assume the returns are wrong, look at what each figure measures. Most of the gap comes from reports that were never built for VAT: they count by a different date, include VAT in the price, leave out stock transfers or include sales on which Amazon itself paid the VAT.
This guide explains the usual reasons, which report to start from and how to reconcile step by step, so you can tell a harmless difference from a real compliance problem.
Start from the right report
Amazon gives you many reports, and most of them answer business questions: what you sold, what you were paid, how your listings performed. Only one is built for VAT: the VAT Transactions Report. It lists every transaction that matters for VAT, line by line: sales, refunds and movements of your stock between countries. For each line it shows the tax date, the countries the goods left from and arrived in, the VAT charged and who is responsible for collecting it.
Payment and settlement reports are built for cash. Business reports are built for performance. Comparing either of them with a VAT return is comparing two different things, so the difference tells you very little.
Nine reasons the numbers don’t match
1. Different dates
Order reports count by order date and payouts count by settlement date. VAT follows the tax point, which for Amazon sales is normally the date the transaction is completed. An order placed on 31 March and shipped on 1 April belongs in April’s return, even though it appears in March’s sales.
2. Prices with and without VAT
Seller Central shows prices as the customer paid them, VAT included. A VAT return declares the net taxable amount and the VAT separately. Comparing gross sales with net taxable amounts creates a gap of exactly the VAT.
3. Refunds
A refund reduces your VAT in the period in which you make it, not in the period of the original sale. Payout reports net refunds against sales in their own way, so the timing rarely lines up.
4. Sales where Amazon collects the VAT
In some cases Amazon is the deemed supplier for VAT, for example for sales by non-EU sellers to EU consumers from stock held in the EU. Amazon then collects and pays that VAT. Those sales still appear in your sales figures, but not as VAT you charged in your return. The VAT Transactions Report tells you who is responsible for each line.
5. Stock transfers between fulfilment centres
When Amazon moves your stock from one country to another, nothing is sold, so the movement never shows in your sales. For VAT it is a transfer of your own goods that has to be declared in both countries. See our guide to VAT on stock movements.
6. B2B sales to buyers with a VAT number
Sales through Amazon Business to a buyer in another EU country with a valid VAT number are usually intra-Community supplies without VAT. They also go in your EC Sales List. In Seller Central they look like any other sale.
7. Shipping, gift wrap and promotions
What you charge the customer for shipping and gift wrap is part of the taxable amount, and promotional discounts reduce it. A report that only shows item prices will not match your return.
8. Currency conversion
Each marketplace sells in its own currency, while each VAT return is filed in the currency of its country, using the exchange rate that country’s rules require. Small differences per line add up over a quarter.
9. Amazon’s fees and your other channels
Amazon’s selling and fulfilment fees are services you buy. They can appear in your VAT return, often under the reverse charge, but never in a sales report. And your return covers every sale you made in that country, through any channel, not only Amazon.
How to reconcile, step by step
- Download the VAT Transactions Report for the whole period of the return.
- Separate the lines where Amazon is responsible for the VAT from the lines where you are.
- Split the rest by transaction type: sales, refunds and stock transfers.
- Group by tax date and by the countries the goods left from and arrived in. This tells you which lines belong in a local return and which in your OSS return.
- Add your sales from other channels for the same countries and period.
- Compare the totals with each box of the return: taxable amount, VAT, intra-Community supplies and acquisitions.
- Investigate what is left: missing buyer VAT numbers, wrong VAT rates, transfers that appear in one country but not the other.
For the stock side, our stock movement reconciliation checklist walks through the same exercise for transfers.
When a difference is a real problem
Most differences disappear once you compare like with like. Some do not, and those need fixing:
- Sales charged at the wrong VAT rate for the customer’s country.
- Sales from stock in a country where you have no VAT registration.
- Stock transfers declared in the departure country but missing in the arrival country.
- Sales where Amazon collected the VAT also declared in your own return, so the VAT is paid twice.
These lead to corrected returns, and sometimes to registrations with retroactive effect. The earlier they are found, the cheaper they are to fix.
How hellotax helps
Our VAT software works from your Amazon transaction data together with your other sales channels, and our team of local tax advisors files your returns in each country. If your figures don’t match and you are not sure why, book a free consultation and we will look at your reports with you.
FAQ
Which Amazon report should I use for VAT?
The VAT Transactions Report. Payment and business reports are useful for cash and performance, but not for VAT returns.
Why is my VAT return different from my Amazon payouts for the same month?
Payouts follow settlement dates, include fees and net off refunds. VAT follows the date each transaction is completed and is declared without VAT in the taxable amount.
Do I declare sales where Amazon collected the VAT?
Not as VAT you charged. Amazon pays that VAT. Whether you report those sales anywhere else depends on the country, which is a question to check with your advisor.
Are FBA stock transfers sales?
No, but they are taxable movements for VAT. They have to be declared in the country the goods leave from and in the country they arrive in.
The post Amazon VAT Reconciliation: Why Seller Central Reports Don’t Match Your VAT Returns appeared first on Hellotax Blog.
This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
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