Overview

Amazon's tax guidelines outline the responsibilities sellers have when it comes to collecting, calculating, and remitting taxes on sales made through the platform. These guidelines are part of the Amazon Services Business Solutions Agreement and apply to all sellers using Amazon's marketplace. Understanding these requirements is essential for staying compliant and avoiding costly penalties from tax authorities.

Key Points / What Sellers Need to Know

• Sellers bear full tax responsibility — Amazon makes it clear that sellers are ultimately responsible for the collection, calculation, payment, and remittance of all applicable taxes to the appropriate governmental authorities. Amazon does not assume liability for your tax obligations.

• Tax registration is required — Sellers must be registered to collect and pay taxes in every jurisdiction where they are required to do so, and must be able to provide documentation proving that registration upon Amazon's request.

• Amazon's fees are tax-exclusive — All fees, commissions, and other amounts payable to Amazon are quoted exclusive of applicable taxes. If taxes are required to be collected or withheld on those fees, sellers must pay them on top of the stated amounts.

• U.S. sales tax calculation services are available — Amazon provides tax calculation tools that can compute and collect U.S. sales and use taxes on your behalf, but only when you provide the necessary tax settings, including nexus information and product tax codes.

• No guarantees on tax accuracy — Amazon explicitly disclaims responsibility for verifying the accuracy of tax rules, tax rates, jurisdiction assignments, or whether the amounts collected will fully satisfy a seller's tax obligations.

How Amazon's Tax Calculation Services Work

Amazon offers built-in tax calculation services for U.S. sales and use taxes. To use these services, sellers must provide their tax collection settings, including tax nexus information, product tax code assignments, and any other data Amazon requires. Once configured, Amazon calculates the appropriate tax amount at checkout, collects it from customers, and remits those collected amounts back to the seller based on the settings provided. It is important to understand that these calculation services are limited strictly to U.S. sales and use taxes and do not extend to any other types of taxes. Amazon strongly emphasizes that sellers should not rely on these tools as a substitute for professional tax advice or as a guarantee of compliance.