Green Circle says cross-border】Amazon slaps the face? Exclusive decryption of the magical self-shipping parcel VAT registration (with a small colorful egg of the new policy of the UK's exit from the European Union)

We would like to give you a brief introductionWhat is Value Added Tax VAT:
First of all, VAT is a consumption tax levied on buyers trading within the EU, which means that the tax obligation is on the consumer, not the seller.
The main reason why sellers need to register for a VAT number is that it is a substitute for the tax office in Europe to collect tax from consumers and to pay the tax collected back to the tax office on a regular basis, so the consumer is the real bearer of VAT, and therefore VAT is also a kind of indirect tax.
Some seller friends as well as some peers will be easy to qualitative thinking to understand VAT as sales VAT, and then for our non-EU cross-border sellers, there will also be a kind of import VAT is closely related to everyone, we can simply understand the sales VAT for sales tax (Output VAT) and import VAT for input tax (Input VAT).
Whether or not we as sellers need to comply with VAT in the EU, we need to consider not only whether or not we have an Output VAT obligation, but also whether or not we need to properly handle Import VAT.

Okay, let's get back to the main topic, do you need to register for German VAT for domestic shipments or not?

Let's take a look at an article from the official website of the German tax office.

The IRD has very kindly provided a Chinese version of the article on its official website, and we have also sent you a link to the article for your convenience in reading the original IRD article.
https://www.bzst.de/SiteGlobals/Functions/Marginalspalte/EN/Allgemein/ustrechtl_pflichten_nicht_eu_unternehmern/UStrechtl_pflichten_nicht_eu_unternehmern.html

It was emphasized in the article:
In view of the fact that the stockpile country is in theNon-EU cross-border sellersIn the latest official document of the German tax office, it is stated that non-EU cross-border sellers in the following three situations are required to operate in compliance with VAT:

1. Sellers of goods from German warehouses to German customers and German companies.
2. Sales from warehouses in other EU countries (non-German) to buyers in Germany and other EU countries (non-German) plus sellers who do not exceed €100,000 in a natural year. (i.e. once a remote control sales threshold of more than €100,000 in a natural year exists, VAT compliance is required in Germany for the following natural year.)
3. Sellers who sell to German buyers or German partners from warehouses in third countries (outside the European Union), if the seller or his freight forwarder acts as importer for customs clearance and tax purposes, are also required to register for VAT and pay Import VAT. If the seller or his/her forwarder acts as an importer for customs clearance and payment of taxes, he/she is also required to register for VAT in Germany and pay Import VAT.

The original German version of this paragraph is as follows, for those who know German:

So here's the problem:

Is it necessary to register for German VAT for sellers who ship from Germany?
Is it too much for Amazon to send an email to a self shipment seller asking for VAT number documentation?
Does it count as a backhanded move if you expect to get something later on?

Answer: Whether or not a seller who ships from China needs to register a VAT number to pay VAT depends on who is the Importer for customs clearance:

1. If the seller or its freight forwarder as Importer, then the seller needs to register VAT number in Germany import customs clearance and pay Import VAT, once the seller as importer (importer), then in each month also need to this self-shipment order to declare sales VAT, and the front of the Import VAT can be refunded or credit.
2. If the buyer or his German partner acts as an Importer, the seller is not required to register for VAT and pay VAT tax in Germany. Import customs clearance and payment of Import VAT is the responsibility of the buyer.

Egg Time

Knowledge point 1
About the new German bill
The latest German VAT Act regulations state that e-commerce platforms are jointly and severally liable for sellers who do not pay VAT, but are exempt from liability if the e-commerce platform records the necessary information about the seller and complies with their due diligence obligations.
It is because of this that the major e-commerce platforms have issued circulars to collect and record information about sellers' German VAT certificates, with ebay, amazon, and wish being some of the more representative platforms.

Knowledge point 2
About the new UK regulations
On February 14, 2019, HMRC in the UK released official information for sellers shipping to the UK from EU countries as well as non-EU countries, there are 3 situations where sellers need to register for VAT to pay import VAT:

1. For sellers shipping to the UK from EU countries as well as non-EU countries.
2. March 29, 2019 (post-Brexit) Sales of goods shipped to the UK with a value less than or equal to £135
3. Choose the seller to pay import VAT instead of the freight forwarder.
   For this UK HMRC new rules, in fact, for sellers to China or other countries to send goods to the UK, the value of goods in the £ 135 or less, if the freight forwarding company does not pay the tax on behalf of the case, the seller is required to register the UK VAT. For small value (£ 135) including the following, is the need for the seller to pay import VAT, just whether the seller needs to register this VAT tax number, depending on whether the freight forwarding company has its own vat instead of the seller to pay Import VAT.

Knowledge point 3
About Brexit
Despite the new tax rules coming out of the UK's exit from the EU, the official documentation we received from HMRC suggests that from the end of March 2019 to December 31, 2020 there will be no changes to the original EU tax law, and that this period will be a transition period.