Buying on Amazon for your business: Luxembourg invoices

You buy on Amazon.de for your business and the invoice names a company from Luxembourg? According to Amazon, Amazon.de is a trading name of Amazon EU S.à r.l. and Amazon Business EU S.à r.l.; they are the sellers of the products that Amazon.de itself sells. You can deduct as input VAT the tax legally owed on supplies to your business if you hold an invoice issued under sections 14 and 14a UStG on which the tax is shown separately (§ 15(1) sentence 1 no. 1 UStG); only tax owed under the German VAT Act is deductible. Whether Amazon charges you VAT also depends, according to Amazon, on your verified VAT ID.

Only VAT GPT sends all three returns itself. Of the tools we compare, according to the providers' own pages (checked 3 November 2026), only VAT GPT submits the OSS return itself to the BZSt, plus the VAT advance return and the annual VAT return via ELSTER to the tax office, calculated from your Amazon and eBay reports. You do not have to go into Mein ELSTER or the BZStOnline portal yourself. With the others, you upload the OSS file in the BZStOnline portal yourself, or a tax adviser or the provider's service files it for you. Sending needs Pro. OSS software compared

Last updated: 29 October 2026

In brief

Rule: Input VAT deduction requires that you "hold an invoice issued under sections 14, 14a" (§ 15(1) sentence 1 no. 1 UStG).
Seller: For items Amazon.de sells itself, Amazon names Amazon EU S.à r.l. and Amazon Business EU S.à r.l. For marketplace items, take VAT questions to the seller.
Condition at Amazon: If you give your VAT ID, Amazon says its systems decide after verification whether VAT is charged. As long as the number does not show as "Active", Amazon treats your purchases as non-business.
Open: How the mandatory details under § 14(4) UStG are to be read for an issuer from Luxembourg (no. 2: tax number or VAT ID issued by the Federal Central Tax Office) is not explained by the pages we opened; that is a point for your tax adviser.

Who sells to you on Amazon.de?

Amazon's VAT agreement says: "Amazon.de is a trading name of Amazon EU S.à r.l. and Amazon Business EU S.à r.l. Amazon EU S.à r.l. and Amazon Business EU S.à r.l. are the sellers of the products sold to you through Amazon.de", and expressly "not ... sales by third-party sellers on Amazon.de (for example marketplace sellers)". It continues: "Amazon EU S.à r.l. is a Luxembourg company with branches in Germany, Italy, Spain and France." Amazon Business EU S.à r.l. is also a Luxembourg company.

For marketplace items it is different: "For questions about VAT on items bought from marketplace sellers, please contact the seller directly." And: "In some cases Amazon states the VAT on behalf of the seller. If so, you can download the invoice under My Orders."

What this means for you: Check on the invoice whether Amazon or a third-party seller sold the goods.

How do you get the invoice?

For items Amazon sells itself, Amazon provides invoices electronically under the VAT agreement: "Invoices are made available to you in PDF format in the My Account area of the website." For each delivery, Amazon tells you in the shipping confirmation whether an electronic invoice is available.

For Amazon Business, Amazon describes the way like this: you sign in with your business account and click "My Orders"; next to the order is "Invoice". If it is not available for download, you choose "Request invoice" to contact the seller; Amazon gives two working days as the usual response time.

What this means for you: Download the invoice under My Orders.

When does Amazon charge VAT?

According to Amazon: "When you enter your VAT identification number for purchases on Amazon.de, our systems will, after verifying your VAT identification number, determine whether VAT applies to your purchases and automatically issue a valid invoice under the EU VAT Directive and local VAT rules." If Amazon does not charge you VAT, you are, "where applicable", responsible for your own VAT obligations.

How you register the number: according to Amazon you can enter it through customer service or an Amazon Business account; for business accounts, the administrator can add or remove numbers. Amazon also writes: "To reclaim VAT on business purchases, please give your VAT identification number when you register for Amazon Business." The path for the seller account is in Amazon: add your VAT ID in Seller Central; the customer account path is in Amazon's help.

It does not apply to everything: according to Amazon you cannot use the VAT ID for digital content, Prime memberships, gift orders and gift cards, or for items from third-party sellers that do not take part in Amazon's VAT calculation service.

What this means for you: Enter your VAT ID so that Amazon can verify it before you buy.

When can you deduct input VAT?

Under § 15(1) sentence 1 no. 1 UStG you can deduct "the tax legally owed for supplies and other services performed by another business for his business". "Exercising the input VAT deduction requires that the business holds an invoice issued under sections 14, 14a."

What an invoice must contain is in § 14(4) UStG, including the full name and address of supplier and recipient (no. 1), the tax number or the VAT ID issued by the Federal Central Tax Office of the supplying business (no. 2), issue date (no. 3), invoice number (no. 4), quantity and type of goods (no. 5), time of supply (no. 6), the consideration (no. 7) and tax rate and tax amount (no. 8). All mandatory details with examples: Invoice: mandatory details under § 14 UStG.

Once you have the input VAT, you enter it in the return: Entering input VAT in the German VAT return. The purchase in the EÜR is shown in Booking VAT and input VAT in the EÜR.

What this means for you: You can deduct input VAT only with a valid invoice issued under the law.

If Amazon does not charge VAT

If the seller does not charge German VAT, an intra-Community acquisition may exist, depending on the case. Under § 1a(1) no. 1 UStG, for that a good gets to the acquirer "from the territory of one member state into the territory of another member state"; the acquirer is a business that acquires the good for its business. You can deduct the tax on it as input VAT under § 15(1) sentence 1 no. 3 UStG "if the intra-Community acquisition is effected in Germany under § 3d sentence 1". In the 2026 VAT return form you declare the taxable acquisition in lines 25 to 28 (tax base and tax); the input VAT on it is at line 39 with code number 61.

An acquisition threshold of 12,500 euros applies to certain acquirers (§ 1a(3) UStG). On § 1a(4) UStG: "Using a VAT identification number issued to the acquirer towards the supplier counts as a waiver. The waiver binds the acquirer for at least two calendar years." Whether and how that applies to your Amazon purchases depends among other things on whether you are an acquirer under § 1a(3) no. 1 UStG (for example a business that makes only exempt supplies that exclude input VAT deduction) and on the country the goods are delivered from; clarify that with your tax adviser.

What this means for you: Ask your tax adviser if the seller does not charge German VAT.

Small businesses

For small businesses (Kleinunternehmer): the turnover of a business resident in Germany "is exempt" if total turnover did not exceed 25,000 euros in the previous calendar year and does not exceed 100,000 euros in the current year (§ 19(1) sentence 1 UStG), as long as it has not waived this under § 19(3) UStG. Section 15(2) sentence 1 no. 1 UStG excludes input VAT deduction for the tax on goods that the business uses to make exempt supplies. For purchases you use for those supplies, no input VAT deduction follows; for mixed use or in an individual case, ask your tax adviser.

What this means for you: Small businesses cannot deduct input VAT, so ask your tax adviser in an individual case.

Common mistakes

Not downloading the invoice. Without an invoice, the condition for the input VAT deduction is missing.
Not having the VAT ID verified. As long as it does not show as "Active", Amazon treats the purchases as non-business.
Treating marketplace items like Amazon items. For marketplace items, the seller is your contact for VAT.
Not checking an invoice without VAT. Then you are, according to Amazon, "where applicable" responsible for your own VAT obligations.

What this means for you: Download every invoice and have your VAT ID verified.

How VAT GPT helps

VAT GPT is the tax software for online sellers, freelancers and small businesses in Germany. It calculates and files in one place, in this order:

your OSS return
VAT
EÜR
trade tax
income tax

Upload: You upload your Amazon and eBay CSV reports and your invoices.
Check: VAT GPT breaks the VAT down for Germany and the EU (OSS) and reads amounts, countries and tax rates from the invoices with AI. You check and confirm.
Send: With VAT GPT Pro you send the VAT return and the EÜR through ELSTER and the OSS return to the BZSt.

With VAT GPT Pro you send the VAT return and the EÜR through ELSTER and the OSS return to the BZSt. There is Free, Go (30 days free with all Pro features) and Pro. Try for Free Now

Frequently asked questions

Who is my contract partner at Amazon.de? For items Amazon.de sells itself, Amazon names Amazon EU S.à r.l. and Amazon Business EU S.à r.l. For marketplace items, it is the marketplace seller.

Can I deduct input VAT from an Amazon invoice? If you bought as a business for your business, the tax shown is legally owed under the German VAT Act, and you hold an invoice issued under sections 14, 14a UStG on which the tax is shown separately (§ 15(1) sentence 1 no. 1 UStG).

Where do I find the invoice? According to Amazon in the My Account area or under My Orders next to the order; for Amazon Business via "Invoice" or "Request invoice".

What if the invoice shows no VAT? Then, according to Amazon, you are "where applicable" responsible for your own VAT obligations. Depending on the case, an intra-Community acquisition may exist (§ 1a UStG).

Can small businesses deduct input VAT? If you apply the small business scheme, your turnover is exempt (§ 19(1) sentence 1 UStG); for goods you use for exempt supplies, input VAT deduction is excluded (§ 15(2) sentence 1 no. 1 UStG).

Does my VAT ID apply to Prime and gift cards? No, according to Amazon not for Prime memberships and gift cards.