25 Aug How to invoice sales on Amazon?

When a customer places an order, Amazon handles the collection and periodically settles sales for that period. As in any physical and online store, the platform provides you with the customer’s tax data so that you can issue invoices. If your account is a Vendor, Amazon will take care of the entire process.

According to the law, who is required to invoice?

Sellers doing business in the EU are subject to a single set of EU-wide invoicing rules. Sellers doing business in the UK are subject to other requirements.

According to the regulations, invoices must be issued (either by themselves or through a third party) for business-to-business (B2B) transactions and for most business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions.

Why are invoices so important on Amazon?

Amazon sellers must comply with all legal requirements, the Amazon Services Europe Business Solutions Agreement and associated policies. Check with your advisor in which cases you are obliged to issue VAT invoices.

Amazon Business’ billing policy states that all sellers are required to provide Amazon Business customers with a valid VAT invoice for each order within one business day of confirming shipment of the order. In addition, sellers must maintain a turnover defect ratio of less than 5% in order to sell on the platform.

The billing defect rate is a percentage of orders for which you haven’t uploaded an invoice by midnight on the first business day following the day you confirmed the order’s shipment. For example, if you confirm that an order has been shipped between 00:01 and 23:59 on Monday, you need to upload your invoice by 23:59 on Tuesday. If you confirm the shipment of an order between 00:01 and 23:59 on Friday, you need to upload the invoice before 23:59 on Monday.

VAT rates in EU member states to take into account when invoicing

Each country has its own Value Added Tax (VAT) system. If you are a seller on Amazon and want to sell your products to millions of customers, it is common for you to have doubts when it comes to declaring VAT in different countries. Keep in mind that in the EU, VAT is added to the products you sell and then transferred to the tax authorities when you file your tax return. VAT application, VAT registration, and tax rates vary from country to country. For more information on VAT rates in Europe.

As an Amazon seller, it is your responsibility to ensure that your responsibilities are fulfilled or to seek professional advice if you are in doubt about what your obligations are. With this free trial, you will be able to determine if you need to register for VAT and, if so, in which country you must do so.

How to create invoices on Amazon?

Thanks to Amazon’s VAT calculation service, you can create invoices or receipts automatically. Sellers who don’t use this option, on the other hand, will need to upload their own invoices, receipts, and credit notes in Seller Central.

If you have Amazon VAT calculation turned on

When you turn on VAT calculation, Amazon will generate invoices on your behalf each time you have a sale. It is important to note that Amazon invoices are valid for legal purposes and, therefore, you will have to record them in your accounting and in no case make them again.

There are two types of invoices on Amazon:

• B2C: for private customers. It’s like a store ticket.
• B2B: for enterprise customers.

These invoices can be found at:

Reports > Tax > Document Library Amazon VAT Invoices

You will be able to choose a custom date range and a file will be downloaded with all the independent invoices and in a numbered form.

If you don’t have Amazon VAT calculation turned on

• B2C: We recommend generating an invoice (in your accounting) for each active marketplace. This invoice includes a sum of all sales made, and if a business customer requests an invoice, you’ll need to separate it from the rest of the sales.
• B2B: You can upload your invoices, receipts, and credit notes to Seller Central via the “Manage Orders” page or through a third-party service provider.

What invoices does Amazon issue?

Amazon generates different invoices based on the services the platform charges. They can be warehousing expenses, marketing, seller expenses, etc.

• Invoices for advertising expenses

To view all invoices and see the details of your invoices, go to Reports > Payments > Advertising billing history.

• Invoices for fees applicable to the seller

You can find them on the Reports > tab, Tax > Document Library, Seller Fee Invoices.

If you still have questions about what invoicing on Amazon means for you as a seller, contact us and we will help you solve your doubts.