Hi all,

I’ve now been trying to complete a shipment from China to Amazon UK via the Partnered Carrier programme for over a month, and the system continues to block me from proceeding due to the VAT number field being mandatory.

I am a UK-based sole trader and not VAT registered, which is fully compliant with UK law and Amazon policy. Despite this, the shipment creation page will not let me continue without entering a UK VAT number, and placeholder entries like `NOVAT`, `EXEMPT`, or `000000000` are all rejected.

I’ve contacted Seller Support many times now, and while they acknowledged it’s a technical constraint, no solution has been provided and they have now stopped responding. I’ve also followed all their guidance, I have a valid UK EORI number, full company and supplier information, and I’m importing as normal. There is no legal or policy reason I should be required to input a VAT number.

Because of this issue, my inventory has now run out, and I'm losing sales. if I try to do it with my own carrier it will have to be by sea and will take over a month to arrive now. If I had known about this issue I would have done a private carrier from the beginning

For clarity, here are the correct VAT rules that apply to my case:

HMRC:

• VAT registration is not required unless your taxable turnover exceeds £90,000/year or you choose to register voluntarily.
• from HMRC website (I can't link it)

Amazon UK VAT (UK VOEC) guidance:

Amazon is the “deemed supplier” when goods are:

• Imported from outside the UK,
• Valued under £135,
• Sold through Amazon to UK customers.
• Amazon collects and remits the VAT themselves in this case.
• https://sellercentral.amazon.co.uk/gc/vat-education/uk-voec

There is no rule that requires non-VAT registered UK sellers importing from China into Amazon UK to have a VAT number. Yet Amazon’s Partnered Carrier system forces one anyway, and support has been unable to override it or provide a usable workaround.

Can a moderator or someone from the Partnered Carrier tech team please confirm:

• When this will be fixed?

• Whether any override or exception can be applied for compliant UK sellers?

Thanks in advance. I’m just trying to operate within the rules, and this system bug is directly impacting my business.