Amazon Prime - VAT

Amazon refusing to provide VAT invoice

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We have an Amazon Business account with one user having a Prime membership renewed annually. Amazon have issued a receipt indicating that VAT at 20% has been included, but they refuse to issue a VAT invoice, I believe we are within our rights to request a one.  I am unsure if we can reclaim the VAT on our return as the receipt provided clearly states it is not a VAT invoice and does not show a UK VAT number. Advice as to where we go from here would be appreciated.

Replies (27)

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By Ian McTernan CTA
24th Oct 2018 12:20

You're really spending all that time on a £79 item (so £13.17 of VAT) that most probably was also used for personal use?

It's cost more for me to type out my answer...sometimes it really doesn't matter whether there was VAT or not, it's not worth the time and effort to find out. Just don't reclaim and move on.

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Replying to Ian McTernan CTA:
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By Debbie Parkin
24th Oct 2018 12:35

Hi Ian Many thanks for you response and I am with you - action it and move on but then I got to thinking - what if we all did this because the value was too small? Doesn't make it right and Amazon stand to make a great deal of "£13.17"s. But I thank you for your time.
By the way this is wholly a business expense and is utilised on a Amazon Business account.

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Replying to Debbie Parkin:
By Duggimon
24th Oct 2018 14:39

How on earth are Amazon making £13.17 from this?

I'd say just claim it and move on, you know there's VAT on it and HMRC are pretty unlikely to demand to see your invoice. If they do you can hand over the £13.17 and the 4p interest.

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Replying to Duggimon:
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By Debbie Parkin
24th Oct 2018 14:57
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Replying to Debbie Parkin:
By Duggimon
24th Oct 2018 16:45

I had a look. It's irrelevant to the question I asked.

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Replying to Ian McTernan CTA:
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By gary white
24th Nov 2023 19:03

Mmmmmh, so my estimates are that you're either earning over £1500 per hour ........ or perhaps an absolutely rubbish typist :)

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Replying to gary white:
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By paulwakefield1
26th Nov 2023 10:28

And its taken you 5 years to work that out. :-)

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By Matrix
24th Oct 2018 12:22

Is it Amazon or an Amazon seller?

If the former then you can download a VAT invoice from your account, if the latter you email the seller for a VAT receipt.

If any probs then call Amazon or you complete a form and they call you straight back.

I have stopped shopping on Amazon due to the extra admin of getting the invoices.

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Replying to Matrix:
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By WhichTyler
24th Oct 2018 12:41

On Amazon Business you can download invoices for a whole load of transactions in one go from sellers and Amazon

Business Analytics>Reports>Get Order Invoices and other documents

IIRC you can chose to not be shown sellers that don't provide invoices

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Replying to Matrix:
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By tom123
24th Oct 2018 12:59

Amazon prime is one of their own services (which includes free delivery etc) rather than being a product.

I expect they hide behind a ruse that skype use - which is that "they do not offer the service to business customers"

although I wasn't aware that precluded the requirement to provide invoices!

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Replying to Matrix:
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By carnmores
25th Oct 2018 14:42

Quite right Matrix its not difficult.

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Replying to carnmores:
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By Matrix
25th Oct 2018 19:41

So you are saying that if it is an Amazon Business account then you can download all invoices without emailing the seller?

Lisa R below and my clients have the same issue so is this the difference?

I doubt I will set up a business account but would be good to know for clients.

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Replying to Matrix:
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By WhichTyler
26th Oct 2018 06:49

Matrix wrote:

So you are saying that if it is an Amazon Business account then you can download all invoices without emailing the seller?

Yes that's what I did yesterday. Amazon Business is quite new so might be worth a look, lots of useful freatures, suchas catalogues, order approval, pay by invoice etc...

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Replying to WhichTyler:
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By Matrix
26th Oct 2018 07:21

Thanks I will take a look.

The OP has a business account already though so what does everyone suggest to her if it is not difficult?

I get the OP now, she is wanting to claim VAT on the prime membership fee itself but doesn't have an invoice. I don't understand why she thinks Amazon are gaining though, surely it is HMRC if businesses don't claim the VAT.

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Replying to Matrix:
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By WhichTyler
26th Oct 2018 10:46

Amazon Prime =/= Amazon Business

I suspect they are using a 'personal' Prime account with a business card to settle it. So they will get free delivery etc but no/fewer VAT invoices. Their call...

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By Lisa R
25th Oct 2018 15:23

Hi Debbie, I don't know if you've looked yourself but if you view the individual orders within Amazon, on the right hand side there is a little dropdown menu which usually has a couple of options such as: invoice, request invoice or order summary.
Sometimes the actual invoice will be readily available and sometimes you do have to send the seller a message to request one. I've had to request invoices a few times in the past, some have replied straight away, others I've never heard back from.
Basically if I don't receive something showing the actual VAT breakdown by the time I finish the VAT return then I don't reclaim it. It does mean some might slip through the net but unless you're regularly placing large orders on there, it will probably cost you more time than it's worth to keep chasing them.

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By Debbie Parkin
29th Oct 2018 09:56

Thanks all for taking the time to read and comment on my post.
We do have a business account with Prime attached legitimately not as a "private" account as suggested. For those interested in the Amazon business account - as individuals use their own login to order they have control over the shipment. Administrators can view and print the orders and invoices if available - however if they are not then the administrator cannot request them and the individual still has to do this. Prime is only associated with the individuals account and not the business account as a whole so cannot be used by all users. We have found these issues over the course of using Amazon Business for the last year or so, but having said that its a very useful tool for multiple users.
With regards to my original query re a VAT invoice for the Prime charge, tom123 seems to have understood my point which I thank them for.

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By The Book Monitor
30th Aug 2019 16:17

I realise this is a long time after the original discussion but I've only just come across all of the posts.
I wanted to say that I have also had this problem with Amazon and their refusal to issue a VAT invoice for the Amazon Prime charge for a Business account - and I raised my concerns about this with Amazon a couple of years ago but they've still not done anything about it!

I though if someone charges VAT on services or goods they are legally required to issue a VAT invoice to the customer - it doesn't matter if they're an individual or a business, if the customer is VAT registered they're entitled to claim back the VAT that they have been charged. Amazon's refusal to issue a VAT invoice, with the excuse that Amazon Prime is only for individuals, is a complete load of rubbish and I'm amazed that they've been able to get away with this for so long.

Perhaps we should all be hounding them to issue the legally required VAT invoice since, as VAT registered customers, we are entitled to claim back the VAT....

Another case of a big, international company thinking they can make up the rules!

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By StuMaynard
08th Aug 2021 15:22

I had trouble finding this, but you can download a VAT invoice from the payment history in the Amazon (business) Prime settings. Posting this here in case someone is looking for the same answer.

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Replying to StuMaynard:
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By Hugo Fair
08th Aug 2021 16:08

There were two other posts on this topic in just the last week ... https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/any-answers/amazon-and-vat-invoices being the one with most useful responses.

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Replying to StuMaynard:
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By MrMjay
18th Apr 2022 16:43

StuMaynard wrote:

I had trouble finding this, but you can download a VAT invoice from the payment history in the Amazon (business) Prime settings. Posting this here in case someone is looking for the same answer.

Thread revival :)

I've tried this, but the documents avaliable to download from the the Amazon Prime subscription page are labelled as 'Receipt' (not 'invoice') and at the bottom it says 'This is nit a VAT invoice'.

I don't know if the £7.99 monthly charge includes VAT or not, but if it does, then there's apparently no way of obtaining a VAT invoice for it from Amazon (and no way of claiming back the VAT).

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Replying to StuMaynard:
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By MrMjay
18th Apr 2022 16:45

StuMaynard wrote:

I had trouble finding this, but you can download a VAT invoice from the payment history in the Amazon (business) Prime settings. Posting this here in case someone is looking for the same answer.

Thread revival :)

I've tried this, but the documents avaliable to download from the Amazon Prime subscription 'paymnet history' page are labelled as 'Receipt' (not 'invoice') and at the bottom it says 'This is not a VAT invoice'.

I don't know if the £7.99 monthly charge for Amazon Prime actually includes VAT or not, but if it does, then there's apparently no way of obtaining a VAT invoice for it from Amazon (and no way of claiming back the VAT).

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Replying to MrMjay:
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By DKB-Sheffield
18th Apr 2022 17:06

Not an answer to 'how to obtain the invoice', or Amazon's requirement to provide 'said invoice', but...

Are you talking about 'Personal Prime Membership' (£7.99 pcm), or 'Business Prime Membership' (£80 + Per Annum)? Your post suggests the former!?

The reason I ask... is Personal Prime W&E for the business? You get... Prime video, basic Prime music, some free Prime only free Kindle content (etc.)? Does this create a BIK/ Personal Use Adjustment? Is it lot of hassle for minimal gain?

If all you want is the 'business-related' benefit, move to Business Prime. If you would rather keep the add-ons, I suggest you consider it a personal expense.

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Replying to DKB-Sheffield:
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By MrMjay
20th Apr 2022 11:14

DKB-Sheffield wrote:

Not an answer to 'how to obtain the invoice', or Amazon's requirement to provide 'said invoice', but...

Are you talking about 'Personal Prime Membership' (£7.99 pcm), or 'Business Prime Membership' (£80 + Per Annum)? Your post suggests the former!?

The reason I ask... is Personal Prime W&E for the business? You get... Prime video, basic Prime music, some free Prime only free Kindle content (etc.)? Does this create a BIK/ Personal Use Adjustment? Is it lot of hassle for minimal gain?

If all you want is the 'business-related' benefit, move to Business Prime. If you would rather keep the add-ons, I suggest you consider it a personal expense.

Thank you for your reply.

I have two Amazon accounts, one used for business use and the other for personal purchases. Each of the two accounts is charged £7.99pm for Amazon Prime. You are quite right that I have not opted for the Amazon Business account at £80pa. However, the basic ('non-Business') Amazon account isn't described as consumer-only ('B2C'), and it's perfectly legitimate to register a basic ('non-Business') Amazon account under my business name, which is what I did. The 'Prime' on the business account, BTW, is used only for expediting deliveries.

I fully understand your point that on a practical level, subscribing to the Amazon Business account may resolve the issue. However, the issue of VAT invoices is an old bugbear of mine. I cannot fathom why businesses - especially large corporations and chains - do not produce VAT invoice as standard, and furthermore many appear to be deliberately obfuscating the process of obtaining gone.

My understanding is that in order for me to be able to reclaim the VAT, the invoice should have the business name, VAT Registration number, amount of VAT taken, and the VAT tax rate. Yet too many businesses fail to provide this basic document.

I was recently in need of a new tyre for my company car. I ordered the tyre and mobile fitting service online from Kwik Fit, and received a 'payment confirmation' by email (no mention of VAT). The tyre fitter attended and replaced the tyre (I was very happy with their service, BTW). He was not able to produce any invoice on the spot, so I contacted Kwik Fit's customer services and requested a 'VAT Invoice'. They sent me another document that said 'Invoice', had their VAT Registration number, but only the total amount paid was showing and no mention of VAT. Eventually, after one phone call and three emails they did send a proper VAT invoice. Surprisingly, this was a scan of a printed paper document - it seems that their system is unable to electronically produce a VAT invoice, and that my request was an unusual one.... surely I can't be the only person in the UK who needs a VAT invoice for mobile tyre fitting on a company car?

Also, I used to buy IT kit for the business in places like John Lewis and PC World. Again, the till only produced an invoice showing the total amount, and you had to go to the back-office and have someone manually produce a VAT invoice for you each time (things may have changed since I last bought IT kit in a shop, though).

I really don't understand why companies do not issue a VAT Invoice as standard, but what is even more perplexing is that when you ask for one, the people you talk to often fail to understand what a VAT invoice is, and keep sending you the same document over and over again.

Personally, I think it should be a legal requirement for any business charging VAT, to produce a proper VAT invoice. But obviously this is not currently the case - apparently businesses can legally charge VAT and not produce a VAT invoice.

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Replying to MrMjay:
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By DKB-Sheffield
20th Apr 2022 12:00

As I mention, with Amazon Prime, and were HMRC to query it, the question would potentially be more on a level of 'why you need personal Prime for business, if you only use the delivery option'. Most (although not all) businesses do not require videos, music etc.

For your other points, you may wish to have a read here https://www.gov.uk/guidance/record-keeping-for-vat-notice-70021#:~:text=.... Sections 4 & 5 deal with the requirement (including 'full', 'simplified' and 'modified' invoices).

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Replying to DKB-Sheffield:
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By MrMjay
20th Apr 2022 12:23

DKB-Sheffield wrote:

As I mention, with Amazon Prime, and were HMRC to query it, the question would potentially be more on a level of 'why you need personal Prime for business, if you only use the delivery option'. Most (although not all) businesses do not require videos, music etc.

For your other points, you may wish to have a read here https://www.gov.uk/guidance/record-keeping-for-vat-notice-70021#:~:text=.... Sections 4 & 5 deal with the requirement (including 'full', 'simplified' and 'modified' invoices).

Thank you, this is very helpful.

It says:

'... if you’re VAT-registered, you must issue a VAT invoice whenever you supply standard rate or reduced rate goods or services to another VAT-registered person'

This implies that as long as I present myself to the seller as a 'VAT-registered person' (and I appreciate that the seller might request my VAT number as proof), then a VAT-registered seller is obliged to provide a VAT invoice if VAT was charged. Why they make it so difficult to obtain it, is beyond me.

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Replying to MrMjay:
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By DKB-Sheffield
20th Apr 2022 13:06

Point noted.

However, my referring you to the link (sections 4 and 5) was more to suggest you may be receiving a 'VAT invoice' already. It may be a simplified invoice (based on value). The 'simplified invoice' may well be compliant. It is not on A4 paper, with your company name, registered address, billing address, full VAT breakdown..., but it may well be compliant (particularly given the retailers to whom you have referred).

I suspect your references to PC World & John Lewis are in relation to a till purchase. Currys PC World will add your business details to a receipt on request - thus providing all the relevant information to constitute a compliant VAT invoice. However, were they to provide a Full VAT Invoice for every customer (which is what you seem to suggest should gappen) - on the off chance that they are in business - all customers would be *required* to give their name and address to avoid the system 'breaking down'. Currys PC World cannot *require* this information of their customers. It would also lead to a significant delay at the tills!

You can of course register with Currys PC World Business to avoid future issues.

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