Amazon VAT Calculation Service (VCS): registration, settings, reports

Do you sell on Amazon and want invoices with VAT shown separately, created automatically? The VAT Calculation Service (VCS, German: Umsatzsteuer-Berechnungsservice) calculates the VAT on your orders and shows Amazon Business customers prices without VAT, at no extra fee according to Amazon. Register in Seller Central, save your VAT identification numbers, choose a product tax code.

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 short

Requirement: at least one VAT identification number valid in the EU or the United Kingdom.
Start: You can activate the service 5 working days after registering, or set the activation date in the future.
Reports: Seller Central, Reports, Tax Documents: Amazon VAT calculations and Invoices with VAT shown.

What does the service do?

According to Amazon the service offers a VAT calculation and an invoicing function. With it you can offer customers prices without VAT and use the downloadable VAT invoice logo on your offers. Only Amazon Business customers see the prices without VAT, and only if you are registered for the service.

Amazon prepares the invoices automatically and makes them available to customers for download. Once activated, the service issues invoices and credit notes for Amazon Business customers and for customers who have entered their VAT identification number or tax codes in their account. The service can only be used for sales in the Amazon stores within the EU.

What this means for you: Register for the service if you want Amazon to issue invoices for Amazon Business customers; it applies only to sales in the Amazon stores within the EU.

What do I need to register?

Amazon names these details for registration:

All your available VAT identification numbers, including those for shipping locations and branch offices, and the addresses that go with them.
The default shipping address for your seller-fulfilled offers.
A VAT identification number for every country for which you have enabled the cross-border Fulfilment by Amazon settings.

At least one number valid in the EU or the United Kingdom is mandatory. Amazon checks the numbers, among other things in the EU VAT Information Exchange System (VIES); this takes 1 to 4 working days. How to enter a number and what applies to errors is in How to add your VAT ID in Amazon Seller Central.

For seller-fulfilled offers, Amazon says the service currently supports only one shipping location. If you have several shipping addresses, you can change the location after confirming shipment. For products shipped by Amazon, the service uses the Amazon shipping locations.

What this means for you: Have your VAT identification numbers ready: at least one valid in the EU or the United Kingdom is mandatory.

How do the product tax code and prices work?

The product tax code (PTC) is an Amazon code that sets the right set of VAT rates for a product category. You choose a default product tax code for most of your offers and can override it at offer level, in Seller Central or through an inventory file. According to Amazon, you clarify with your tax adviser which code fits your product.

The code A_GEN_NOTAX stands for products that are not subject to VAT in the EU, such as gift vouchers. You can no longer newly choose it as the default product tax code; you can still assign it to an individual offer.

For your prices, Amazon requires: if you are registered for VAT in a country, the VAT included in your price must match the VAT in the destination country. Amazon derives the price without VAT from the price including VAT. According to Amazon, changes to assigned product tax codes can take up to 24 hours before prices without VAT show on the product pages.

What this means for you: Choose the default product tax code carefully and check offers that need a different rate, because the code sets the VAT rates.

Where do I find reports and invoices?

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

VAT calculation report: Reports, Tax Documents, Amazon VAT calculations. It contains the calculations for sales, refunds and returns as well as the invoices the service created and changed.
Invoices with VAT shown: Reports, Tax Documents, Invoices with VAT shown. The invoices are available as PDF files in a ZIP folder.
Availability: According to Amazon, calculation data and invoices are available 3 days after the order is shipped.
Permission: For accounts with several users, the permission in the tax settings area must be set to View and Edit.

Amazon describes the difference from the transaction report like this: the VAT Transactions Report (AVTR) is a monthly report with details on sales, returns, refunds and cross-border shipping. The VAT calculation report contains only the calculations and invoices of the calculation service, no details on Fulfilment by Amazon shipments and transfers. The transaction report is the basis for your return: Amazon VAT report CSV: from the AVTR to your VAT and OSS returns.

Transactions calculated under the OSS scheme (Union scheme) show in the calculation report, in the column "Berichtsschema" (reporting scheme), with the value VCS_EU_UOSS.

What this means for you: Download the calculation report and the invoices under Tax Documents; the transaction report remains the basis for your return.

What did Amazon change in the VAT Calculation Service in 2026?

In its changelog for the interface used by seller software (SP-API, page "VAT Calculation Service Updates", opened 27 October 2026) Amazon names two changes for 2026:

From 1 June 2026: calculation per shipment. The VAT Calculation Service calculates tax at the shipment level by applicable tax rate instead of by individual unit. Tax is calculated on the total invoice net amount by tax rate; depending on the customer, the service either works the VAT out of the VAT-inclusive price or calculates it from the net amount. Ten marketplaces are affected, including Germany (also the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Belgium and Ireland). Amazon gives EU e-invoicing compliance as the reason.
From 1 April 2026: a column for Poland. The VAT Calculation Report gets a "KSeF Number" column. It shows the invoice number from Poland's e-invoice system KSeF and concerns the Poland marketplace only.

Who is affected by the shipment-level change? Amazon's announcement is addressed to developers of invoicing applications for sellers enrolled in the service, and to users who issue their own invoices through such applications. Their systems must handle the calculation per shipment and tax rate; otherwise invoices for customers may be missing or wrong. According to Amazon the VAT Invoice Data Report (VIDR) schema stays the same. If you use a program that creates invoices for you, ask the provider whether it supports the change. The announcement says nothing about the transaction report (AVTR) or your tax return.

What this means for you: If you use invoicing software, ask the provider whether it supports calculation per shipment; the change does not touch the transaction report or your tax return.

How VAT GPT helps

Once the VAT columns in the Amazon VAT Transactions Report (AVTR) are filled, you can process the report directly. VAT GPT does that for you:

Upload: You upload the AVTR as CSV. VAT GPT recognises it from the header row.
Check: VAT GPT sorts each sales row by tax procedure and country and shows you the totals for Germany and the EU countries (OSS). You check and confirm.
Send: With VAT GPT Pro, the advance VAT return goes via ELSTER to the tax office and the OSS return directly to the BZSt.

There is Free (basic features, free of charge), Go (30 days free with all Pro features) and Pro. Try for Free Now

Which mistakes happen often?

Service not active. If the VAT columns in the transaction report are empty, Amazon says the calculation service may not be active; activating it does not fill data for the past.
Number deleted. If you remove your only VAT identification number or the one set as default, the registration is deactivated. After adding a new number you register again, and the service is active 5 days later.
Still writing your own invoices. According to Amazon, after registration you no longer issue VAT invoices and credit notes for transactions the service covers. For transactions before activation you may have to issue credit notes.
Wrong product tax code. The code decides the rate. Check offers with a different rate at offer level.
Invoice duties for other customers overlooked. The service issues invoices for Amazon Business customers; which invoice duties remain for other customers is in Amazon: showing VAT and writing invoices.

If the service shows an invalid VAT ID of a buyer, read an invalid buyer VAT ID on Amazon.

What this means for you: Check that the service is active, your number is still registered and the product tax codes are right.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Amazon VAT Calculation Service? An Amazon service that calculates the VAT on your orders, shows prices without VAT to Amazon Business customers and creates invoices with VAT shown separately.

Does the service cost anything? According to Amazon, no; it is open to all selling partners who meet the basic registration criteria.

Do I need a VAT ID for the service? Yes, at least one valid in the EU or the United Kingdom.

When is the service active after registering? You can activate it 5 working days after registration.

Where do I find the invoices? In Seller Central under Reports, Tax Documents, Invoices with VAT shown.

Is the calculation report the same as the transaction report? No. The transaction report (AVTR) covers sales, returns, refunds and cross-border shipping; the calculation report only the service's calculations and invoices.

Why are the VAT columns in my report empty? The calculation service may not be active. Activating it does not fill data for the past.

Must I still write my own invoices after registering? For transactions the service covers, no; Amazon asks you not to issue them any more.