How to add your VAT ID in Amazon Seller Central

Saving your VAT ID in Seller Central? Open Seller Account Information, Tax Information, Place of Establishment and choose Add a VAT number. You enter the full number with its country prefix and pick the address linked to it at the tax office. If name and address do not match, Amazon rejects the number.

Last updated: 29 October 2026

In short

Check: Amazon checks EU numbers in VIES (the EU VAT Information Exchange System, MIAS in German); check yours there first.
Waiting time: a number shown as pending is checked against the tax authority's site, which Amazon says takes up to 48 hours; contact Seller Support after that.
Address: The address in your seller account must match the address that the tax authority holds for the number.
Editing: A saved number cannot be edited. You delete it and add the new one.

What is the VAT ID, and where do I get it?

The Federal Central Tax Office (Bundeszentralamt für Steuern) issues the VAT identification number to businesses on request. The application states name, address and the tax number under which you are registered for VAT (§ 27a (1) UStG). Without a tax number from your tax office there is no VAT ID; it is the second step, not the first.

The tax number and the VAT ID are two different numbers. An invoice must show one of them: the tax number issued by the tax office or the VAT ID issued by the Federal Central Tax Office (§ 14 (4) no. 2 UStG).

What this means for you: Get a tax number from your tax office first, apply for the VAT ID second, and only then add it in Seller Central.

How to save the number in Seller Central

Amazon's German help page names the path Informationen zum Verkäuferkonto > Steuerinformationen > Ort der Niederlassung > Eine Umsatzsteuer-Identifikationsnummer hinzufügen. Amazon's help page on VAT registration covers the VAT ID only, not the German tax number (Steuernummer).

The menu and button names below are our translations of Amazon's German help page; your Seller Central may show them in different words.

Open Seller Account Information, then Tax Information, then Place of Establishment, and click Add a VAT number.
In the window, choose the country of the number and enter the whole number including the prefix.
Choose the registered address linked to this number.
Click Add number. The number then appears on the page.

Amazon checks EU numbers against VIES. Before you enter the number, look it up yourself in the EU Commission's VIES service: if it is valid there and the name and address registered for the number match your seller account, you meet the conditions Amazon names. For German numbers VIES shows only validity, no name and no address; compare instead with the letter that notified you of your VAT ID (Amazon calls it a VAT certificate, „Umsatzsteuerbescheinigung“).

What this means for you: Enter the whole number with its country prefix and follow the menu path before you click Add number.

Account blocked or number rejected: what do I do?

Status pending verification (German: „Überprüfung ausstehend“): Amazon says the check against the tax authority's site takes up to 48 hours. If the number is still pending after that, contact Seller Support.
Rejected although valid in VIES: Compare the name and address registered for the number (in VIES or, for German numbers, in the letter that notified you of the number) with your details under Business Information, identity details and business address. They must match. If the problem persists 72 hours after the change, contact Seller Support.
Wrong address: You change an address linked to the number under Place of Establishment with Edit. You change the registered business address itself under Business Information; that can trigger an additional review.
Country missing from the list: If you already saved another identifier for the same country, add the number in that country's row with Add.

Is my account blocked? Amazon's help page on VAT registration describes no account block because of the number, only the rejected number and the waiting times above. If Seller Central reports a block to you, the text of that message applies; ask Seller Support what is missing. Before you write, rule out the cause Amazon names for a rejected number, which you can check yourself: name and address in the seller account do not match the tax authority's record.

What this means for you: Wait up to 48 hours for a pending status and contact Seller Support if it stays pending or the data differ.

How do I check name and address against the official record?

Take the letter from the Federal Central Tax Office (Bundeszentralamt für Steuern, BZSt) that notified you of your VAT ID. The BZSt announces the number only by post, in principle to the address held at your tax office.
Compare name, legal form, street, postcode and city with your details under Business Information, identity details and business address and phone number in the seller account, character by character.
Look the number up in the EU Commission's VIES service. For German numbers it showed only “valid” in our query, no name and no address, so the comparison runs through the letter.
If you recently told your tax office about a new address or company name: the tax office passes changed data to the BZSt automatically, which according to the BZSt can take some time. If the data differ or have changed, the BZSt tells you to contact your tax office.

Sole traders with a business address. In the BZSt's own example, the tax office sends the BZSt a sole trader's home address. The tax authorities of other EU states use this record for confirmation requests; according to the BZSt, sole traders can run into problems if the business address differs from the home address. The BZSt knows a “Euro address” for this, which you request from it in writing; it is used only for confirmation requests from the tax authorities of other EU states. Amazon's page does not say how Amazon checks name and address. If this applies to you, it is a cause you should rule out.

The official confirmation procedure. Under section 18e no. 1 UStG the BZSt confirms on request to a business the validity of a VAT ID and the name and address of the person to whom another member state issued it. Every holder of a German VAT ID may ask, and the service is free of charge. That helps when you enter a VAT ID from another EU state at Amazon: with the qualified confirmation the BZSt compares company name, street, postcode and city with the member state's record. It does not apply to your German number; for that use steps 1 to 4. Marketplace operators have their own request for domestic numbers, with name and address of the supplying business, under section 18e no. 3 UStG (liability under section 25e UStG); whether Amazon uses it is not stated on any Amazon page we saved.

What this means for you: Compare the letter from the BZSt with your seller-account data character by character before you contact Amazon.

Can I change, delete or save several numbers?

You can save more than one VAT number. Amazon does not edit a saved number: if you need a new one, delete the old one (Edit, then Delete at the bottom left) and add the new one.

If you use the VAT Calculation Service, deleting has consequences: if you remove your only number, or the number set as the default for the price excluding VAT, the registration is deactivated automatically. After adding a valid number you register again; the service is active again 5 days after you re-register. If you remove the number of a country you ship from or to, the service may calculate the tax for the orders concerned wrongly or not at all. More: Amazon VAT Calculation Service (VCS).

For the calculation service you also enter a new number under Seller Account Information, Tax Information, VAT calculation settings.

What this means for you: Delete a number only after you know the VAT Calculation Service may switch off with it.

Which mistakes come up most often?

Number entered without prefix. Amazon asks for the whole number including the country prefix.
Name or address differ. The tax office spelled your company differently from your seller account. Align one of the two before you try again.
Number not checked first. If it is not yet valid in VIES, Amazon cannot confirm it.
Tax number instead of VAT ID. The help page speaks of the VAT identification number. If you only have a tax number, apply for the VAT ID at the Federal Central Tax Office first.

What this means for you: Run through this list before you save the number, because each item is a common reason for rejection.

How VAT GPT helps

You enter the number in Seller Central. After that, you evaluate your Amazon sales with VAT GPT:

Upload: You upload the Amazon VAT Transactions Report as CSV. VAT GPT recognises it from the header row.
Check: VAT GPT sorts the sales rows and shows you the totals for Germany and OSS. How to work with the file is in Amazon VAT report CSV: from the AVTR to your VAT and OSS returns.
Send: With VAT GPT Pro you send the advance VAT return via ELSTER.

The Free plan processes Amazon and eBay reports and calculates VAT for Germany and OSS; sending to ELSTER is part of Pro. There is Free (basic features, free of charge), Go (30 days free with all Pro features) and Pro. Try for Free Now

Frequently asked questions

Where do I enter my VAT ID at Amazon? In Seller Central under Seller Account Information, Tax Information, Place of Establishment, Add a VAT number.

Where do I save my tax number at Amazon? Amazon's help page on VAT registration names no step for it; it describes the VAT identification number only. Seller Central shows which other details Amazon asks for when you set up the account.

Can I change a saved VAT ID? No. You delete it and add the new one.

How long does the check take? Up to 48 hours according to Amazon. After that, contact Seller Support.

Why is my valid number rejected? Usually the registered name or address differs from your details in the seller account. Align both and allow up to 72 hours.

What happens to the VAT Calculation Service if I delete the number? If it was your only number or the one set as default, the registration is deactivated; you register again after adding a valid number.

Must my invoice show the VAT ID? Either the tax number or the VAT ID (§ 14 (4) no. 2 UStG).