Overview

Amazon has alerted sellers that Germany’s Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) now demands an exact match between the business name and tax address entered in Seller Central and the official records held by the authority. Any deviation, even a missing punctuation mark, can lead to the rejection of a German VAT registration, effectively blocking sales on Amazon.de, the EU’s largest marketplace. Prompt verification is essential to keep the German sales channel active.

Key Points

• Exact‑match requirement — The BZSt will compare the legal entity name and tax address in Seller Central character‑by‑character with its database; a difference as small as an abbreviation (“St.” vs. “Straße”) triggers a mismatch.
• Risk of VAT registration denial — If the details do not align, the German VAT number assigned to the seller is rejected, preventing the listing of products on Amazon.de.
• UOSS sellers are covered — Participants in Amazon’s Union One‑Stop Shop (UOSS) program must also ensure their legal name and address match the BZSt records, not just the EU‑wide registration.
• Immediate compliance deadline — Amazon advises sellers to audit and correct their information now, as the enforcement is already active and will affect any pending or future VAT filings.
• Potential revenue impact — Germany accounts for a sizable share of Amazon’s European turnover; loss of VAT registration can halt sales and erase months of advertising spend in that market.

How Verification Works

1. Locate the original confirmation letter — Retrieve the “Bestätigung über die Erteilung einer Umsatzsteuer‑Identifikationsnummer” you received when your German VAT number was first issued; for example, a seller whose letter lists “Müller Handels GmbH, Musterstraße 12, 10115 Berlin” should use this exact wording.
2. Compare with Seller Central settings — In Seller Central, open Settings → Account Info → Business Information and note the legal entity name, then go to Settings → Account Info → Tax Settings to view the tax address. If the platform shows “Müller Handels GmbH” and “Musterstr. 12, 10115 Berlin,” the missing “e” in “Straße” creates a mismatch.