If you have searched for "Amazon VOEC UK VAT", there is a good chance you have crossed two very different things in your head. It is an easy mistake, and it matters, because the answer changes whether you still have to register for and file UK VAT.
Here is the short version. VOEC is a Norwegian scheme, not a UK one. It stands for "VAT On E-Commerce", and it is how Norway gets foreign online sellers and marketplaces to collect Norwegian VAT. It has nothing to do with your UK VAT return.
The thing you are probably actually asking about is whether Amazon collects UK VAT on your sales, and whether that lets you off filing. That is governed by the UK's online marketplace rules, which are separate. For most UK-established sellers, the answer is that Amazon does not collect your UK VAT, and you still register and file in the normal way.
This guide untangles the two, tells you exactly when Amazon does and does not collect UK VAT, and what your filing obligations are either way. Every rule is grounded in gov.uk and the Norwegian Tax Administration, with sources at the end.
What is VOEC, and why is it not a UK thing? {#what-is-voec}
VOEC stands for VAT On E-Commerce. It is run by the Norwegian Tax Administration, and it applies to sales into Norway, not the UK.
Under VOEC, foreign online shops and marketplaces register with Norway and collect Norwegian VAT, currently the standard rate of 25%, on low-value goods sold to Norwegian consumers. The scheme covers goods up to NOK 3,000 in value per item, and a foreign seller or marketplace must register once their VAT-liable sales to Norway pass NOK 50,000 in a 12-month period (Norwegian Tax Administration: VAT On E-Commerce (VOEC)).
Amazon participates in VOEC. If you sell to customers in Norway through Amazon, Amazon can act as the registered marketplace and collect that 25% Norwegian VAT at checkout for qualifying low-value orders (Amazon Seller Central: Norwegian VAT on E-commerce legislation).
So if you have seen "VOEC" in your Amazon settings or on an invoice, it relates to Norway. It is not a UK VAT mechanism, it does not appear on your UK VAT return, and it does not change whether you need to be UK VAT registered. Keep it in the Norway box in your head and the rest of this gets much clearer.
Does Amazon collect UK VAT on my sales? {#does-amazon-collect-uk-vat}
Sometimes, but for most UK-established sellers, no. Whether Amazon collects UK VAT on a sale depends on where the goods are and where you, the seller, belong.
The UK has its own set of rules, brought in after the end of the Brexit transition period, that make the online marketplace responsible for the VAT in specific cases. In those cases Amazon is treated as the "deemed supplier": for VAT purposes, the sale is split so that you sell to Amazon, and Amazon sells to the customer and accounts for the VAT (gov.uk: VAT and overseas goods sold to customers in the UK using online marketplaces).
The key word is overseas. These deemed-supplier rules are aimed squarely at goods coming from outside the UK, or at non-UK sellers holding stock in the UK. If you are a UK business selling your own stock that is already in the UK, you fall outside them, and you account for the VAT on your sales yourself.
That is the crux of the confusion. People hear "Amazon collects the VAT" and assume it always applies. It does not. It applies in two defined situations, set out next.
When does Amazon collect UK VAT for you? {#when-amazon-collects}
Talk to an e-commerce accountant →
Under the gov.uk online marketplace rules, Amazon is liable to collect and account for the UK VAT in these two cases:
| Situation | Who accounts for the UK VAT |
|---|---|
| Goods outside the UK at the point of sale, in a consignment valued at £135 or less, sold to a UK customer | Amazon charges and accounts for the VAT at the point of sale |
| Goods already in the UK at the point of sale, sold by an overseas (non-UK established) seller | Amazon accounts for the VAT on the sale |
| Goods already in the UK, sold by a UK-established seller (your own UK stock) | You account for the VAT on your own VAT return |
For the first case, the gov.uk guidance is precise: consignments of goods valued at £135 or less that are outside the UK at the point of sale have UK supply VAT charged at the point of sale, and the £135 limit applies to the value of the whole consignment, not to individual items within it. The one exception is a business-to-business sale where the buyer gives a valid UK VAT number, in which case the reverse charge can apply instead (gov.uk: VAT and overseas goods sold to customers in the UK using online marketplaces).
For the second case, where an overseas seller's goods are already in the UK (for example, sitting in an Amazon FBA warehouse), the overseas seller is treated as making a zero-rated "deemed supply" to Amazon, and Amazon accounts for the VAT on the onward sale to the customer.
The same guidance also confirms that low value consignment relief, the old import VAT exemption for goods valued at £15 or less, has been removed for goods imported into Great Britain from outside the UK. So there is no longer a "too small to bother with VAT" floor on imported goods.
If I am a UK seller with UK stock, do I still file? {#uk-seller-still-file}
Yes. If you are a UK-established business selling your own stock that is in the UK, Amazon is not the deemed supplier, so it does not collect your UK VAT. You are responsible for it.
In practice that means the normal rules apply to you:
- You must register for VAT once your taxable turnover passes the registration threshold of £90,000 in any rolling 12-month period, or if you expect to pass it in the next 30 days (gov.uk: VAT registration thresholds).
- Once registered, you charge UK VAT on your sales, reclaim input VAT on your costs, and file VAT returns.
- All of this is kept and filed digitally under Making Tax Digital for VAT, which is mandatory for all VAT-registered businesses (gov.uk: Making Tax Digital for VAT).
Even where Amazon does act as deemed supplier on some of your orders, that does not automatically remove your own filing duty. If you are VAT registered, the zero-rated deemed supply to Amazon and your other taxable sales still belong on your return. The marketplace accounting for VAT on a slice of your sales is not the same as you having no return to file.
The honest takeaway: for a typical UK FBA or Seller-Fulfilled seller, holding UK stock, Amazon is not quietly handling your UK VAT. You still register at the threshold and you still file.
Illustrative example: two sellers, two outcomes {#worked-example}
Illustrative example. Two sellers each make a £100 sale (VAT-inclusive) of homeware to a UK consumer through Amazon. The goods are identical. The only difference is who they are and where the stock sits.
| Anya, UK seller, UK stock | Marco, overseas seller, UK stock in FBA | |
|---|---|---|
| Is Amazon the deemed supplier? | No | Yes |
| Who accounts for the UK VAT on the £100 sale? | Anya, on her own return | Amazon |
| VAT at 20% within the £100 | £16.67 goes in Anya's Box 1 | Amazon accounts for it |
| Anya's onward supply to Amazon | Not applicable | Marco makes a zero-rated deemed supply to Amazon |
| Does the seller still file a UK VAT return? | Yes, if registered | Yes, an overseas seller still has UK obligations and records to keep |
Anya is a UK business selling UK stock, so she is outside the deemed-supplier rules. She charges and accounts for the £16.67 of VAT in the £100 herself (£100 divided by 1.2 gives a net of £83.33, and £83.33 x 20% is £16.67). Amazon collects none of her UK VAT.
Marco is an overseas seller with stock in a UK warehouse, so Amazon is his deemed supplier and accounts for the VAT on that sale. Marco's supply to Amazon is zero-rated, but he still has UK VAT obligations and record-keeping to attend to. Same product, same price, completely different VAT mechanics, driven entirely by who the seller is and where the goods are.
What about Amazon's fees, and the VAT on those? {#fees-vat}
This is a third thing people fold into the same question, so it is worth a clean separation.
Since 1 August 2024, Amazon charges 20% UK VAT directly on the seller fees it bills to UK-established sellers, things like referral fees, FBA fees and the Professional selling plan. That replaced the old reverse charge that used to apply when those fees were billed from Luxembourg. If you are VAT registered on standard accounting, you reclaim that VAT as input tax in Box 4 of your return.
So there are genuinely three separate VAT topics that all involve "Amazon" and "VAT", and keeping them apart saves a lot of grief:
- VOEC is Norwegian VAT on your sales into Norway. Not a UK matter.
- UK marketplace (deemed supplier) rules decide whether Amazon collects UK VAT on your sales, and only catch overseas goods or overseas sellers.
- VAT on Amazon's fees is the 20% UK VAT Amazon charges you on its services, which you reclaim if you are registered.
We cover the fees point in detail in our guide to VAT on Amazon seller fees, and the day-to-day mechanics are part of what we handle in our Amazon FBA accounting service.
Where stock location triggers a VAT registration {#stock-location}
One trap worth flagging, because it catches growing sellers and is genuinely fast-moving in how platforms enforce it.
Where you store stock can create a VAT registration obligation in that country, often regardless of your sales level there. Holding goods in a country generally means you have a taxable presence for VAT. For UK sellers, the most common version of this is using Amazon's pan-European or European fulfilment programmes, where your stock can be moved into warehouses in other countries, each of which may trigger a local VAT registration.
The detail of EU and non-UK registrations depends on the specific country and programme, and the rules and Amazon's own compliance requirements change. So treat any cross-border stock move as a "check before you switch it on" decision, not an afterthought. If you are weighing up pan-European FBA or storing stock abroad, get the registration map straight first.
Within the UK, the practical priority is simpler: watch your rolling 12-month turnover against the £90,000 threshold, register on time, and make sure your VAT settings on Amazon match your actual registration status. If you would like that sense-checked, our UK VAT services cover registration, scheme choice and filing, and we work with Amazon sellers on exactly this through our Amazon FBA accounting service.
Frequently asked questions {#faqs}
Is VOEC a UK VAT scheme?
No. VOEC stands for VAT On E-Commerce and it is run by the Norwegian Tax Administration. It applies to low-value goods sold to consumers in Norway, where the standard VAT rate is 25%, and it does not affect your UK VAT return or whether you need to be UK VAT registered.
Does Amazon collect UK VAT on my behalf?
Only in specific cases. Under the UK online marketplace rules, Amazon collects the UK VAT where goods are outside the UK in a consignment of £135 or less sold to a UK customer, or where an overseas seller's goods are already in the UK. If you are a UK-established seller selling your own UK stock, Amazon does not collect your UK VAT and you account for it yourself.
I am a UK seller with UK stock. Do I still have to file VAT returns?
Yes. The deemed-supplier rules do not apply to UK sellers selling their own UK stock, so you register for VAT once your taxable turnover passes £90,000 in a rolling 12-month period and file VAT returns under Making Tax Digital like any other UK business.
What is the £135 rule for Amazon and UK VAT?
For goods outside the UK at the point of sale, sold to a UK customer in a consignment valued at £135 or less, Amazon charges and accounts for UK VAT at the point of sale. The £135 limit applies to the whole consignment, not to individual items. Above £135, normal import VAT and customs rules apply instead.
Does Amazon collecting VAT on some sales mean I have no return to file?
No. Even where Amazon is the deemed supplier on some orders, if you are VAT registered your other taxable sales, and the zero-rated deemed supply to Amazon, still belong on your VAT return. Marketplace collection on part of your sales does not remove your own filing obligation.
Is the VAT on Amazon's seller fees the same as VOEC or the marketplace rules?
No, it is a separate thing again. Since 1 August 2024 Amazon charges 20% UK VAT on its seller fees to UK-established sellers, which you reclaim as input tax if you are VAT registered. That is VAT on Amazon's services to you, not VAT on your sales to customers, and it is unrelated to Norway's VOEC scheme.
Get your Amazon VAT position right
VOEC, the UK marketplace rules, and VAT on Amazon's fees are three different things, and mixing them up is how sellers either miss a registration or assume Amazon is handling VAT it is not. If you sell through Amazon and want certainty on whether you should be registered, whether Amazon is collecting any of your VAT, and how to file it cleanly under Making Tax Digital, talk to us. Book a call through our Amazon FBA accounting service or contact the Zmartly team and we will map your exact position.
