Amazon told us to pay UK VAT to them, but we have paid all VAT to HMRC directly by ourselves
We received performance notification: per our preliminary assessment, Amazon is required to account for GBP 2********* VAT on your sales to consumers to date. You will be required to remit this to Amazon. If you already paid your VAT for this period directly to HMRC, you can work with your current tax advisor to re-claim this back from HMRC.
It's so crazy, we are sure HMRC won't respond this unreasonable requirment.
We have paid all VAT for this period (from 2021-01-01 to 2023-12-31) directly to HMRC by ourselves, our next return due to next month.
Our money has been held by Amazon for more than two months. Is there any one meet the same issue? any advices, will be highly appreciated.
Amazon told us to pay UK VAT to them, but we have paid all VAT to HMRC directly by ourselves
We received performance notification: per our preliminary assessment, Amazon is required to account for GBP 2********* VAT on your sales to consumers to date. You will be required to remit this to Amazon. If you already paid your VAT for this period directly to HMRC, you can work with your current tax advisor to re-claim this back from HMRC.
It's so crazy, we are sure HMRC won't respond this unreasonable requirment.
We have paid all VAT for this period (from 2021-01-01 to 2023-12-31) directly to HMRC by ourselves, our next return due to next month.
Our money has been held by Amazon for more than two months. Is there any one meet the same issue? any advices, will be highly appreciated.
0 replies
Seller_19xPhE8YgkmxW
Hi Roz_758,
There have been various reports about this on the forums - this is part of one from earlier in the month -
"... Since the robots at Amazon weren't helping, we approached HMRC who also didn't help (because they couldn't understand the issue), so we just filed a tax return with a claim for a refund of all VAT on Amazon income since 2021. This got HMRC's attention, and we had a partial audit.
Our case worker at HMRC couldn't believe this process where HMRC would give back money to us, to give to Amazon, to give back to HMRC - we agree, it's insanity. Regardless, HMRC eventually agreed and issued a refund, after we agreed to sign an agreement that we would pay the amount being credited directly to Amazon and provide HMRC with proof of payment. The terms of this agreement were essentially via another procedure, outlined in HMRC notice 700/45, related to unjust enrichment and the reimbursement scheme.
We received our refund and have paid our "owed" VAT to back to Amazon, providing proof of payment to HMRC.
We are still waiting for Amazon to "review the payment" and unlock disbursements. No idea how long this will take... "
You are not alone, but it appears that HMRC do have an understanding of the problem...
All Best
Brian
Seller_zgxUhk2WMIRBY
God bless you. This is going to be a difficult time for you.
Seller_QjZmjcGVCf3cB
Have you sent Amazon proof of the VAT that you've paid for that period? I'm sure they will work with you.
Seller_aR9dAInrVSofv
I am in the same situation Amazon have held over £186k for 3 months now and it seems they have clueless people in charge of there KYC team, We are an isle of man company and we have paid all of our VAT on time every quarter and accurately, The isle of man is part of the UK for VAT and customs purposes a simple call to HMRC or the Isle of man Vat office would confirm that there is a very long standing agreement between the 2 jurisdictions and if you simply google The Isle of Man is part of the UK for VAT then if you click on the link headed VATPOSG2300 - Background: territory of the United Kingdom you will see the facts.
Territory of the UK
The United Kingdom consists of Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales), Northern Ireland and the waters within 12 nautical miles of the coastline. It does not include the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands, the position of which are as follows
Isle of Man – although outside the UK, it is treated as part of the UK for VAT purposes and VAT is chargeable under Manx law which generally parallels UK legislation.
Channel Islands – they are outside both the UK and the EU for VAT purposes (there is no VAT in the Channel Islands).
Great Britain includes the Territorial seas around Northern Ireland (Section 40B(6) of the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2020).
Amazon only reply sending us a generic email and it is always the same so they must be using AI or very cheap uneducated labor most likely the latter as when you do get to speak to someone they have no clue about anything and there english speaking is so poor and limited even though this is amazon.co.uk its extremely frustrating.
They are saying that we have to pay historical VAT from Jan 2021 until now equating to over £317k which we have already paid to the VAT office but we can keep selling on amazon (so kind of you btw) and they will keep our funds and we will only be able to withdraw funds when the £317k they say is owed but has already been paid is paid off.
They think they are bigger then HMRC I should only have to verify my information to HMRC and the Isle of man customs and excise not amazon a company thats all they are they are not a government just a very big company that clearly gets away with this madness. I have suppliers to pay rent staff TAX and have just paid my VAT return of over £40k for the quarter just gone and now Amazon they say I have to pay it all again. Surely they can ring the VAT office and ask a simple question has this company paid its VAT to date a simple yes or no is all they need from HMRC.
Amazon you are ruining the lives of many sellers that have helped you become richer and richer over the last few decades and you clearly do not care. A generic response is not acceptable and you can't even ring them to talk or educate them as they clearly need educating on UK VAT and Law when it comes to the UK and the Isle of man.
Seller_8ZzHpSQkh7aJA
Who inputed the bots on Amazon? I got this email- Thank you for your submission regarding the business establishment verification that is associated with your value-added tax (VAT).We have reviewed the information that you provided and we confirm that your disbursement will be released within the next payment cycle. Even though my funds were released two weeks ago after Amazon withholding my funds for two weeks. Then i didnt reply and then got this - Hello,For reasons of privacy and account security, any email correspondence about your selling on Amazon account must originate from the primary account holder's sign-in email address. The email address that you have used to contact us is not registered to a selling on Amazon account.
Seriously, how badly organized and inefficient is Amazon, apart from in not paying their taxes in the countries they are doing business in?
