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Consequences of not paying VAT
 

Hey guys!
Say that Swim doesn't want to pay any VAT. :spy:
Swim sells in Europe (Italy and Germany) and is beyond the VAT threshold.
Swim's only got a Italian VAT number.

1) Will they just block Swim's seller account or will they additionally close Swim's listings as well?
2) If they don't remove the listings... can Swim keep selling under a stealth account restoring the previous listings?
3) What are the precautions to take?
4) Can this be sustainable in the long run?

Thanks so much for your help, guys!
Qoge

Re: Consequences of not paying VAT
 

⊗⊗⊗⊗ details to avoid vat? Have fun with your 5-10 years in jail if you get caught lol.

Re: Consequences of not paying VAT
 

Yeah, avoiding VAT is generally frowned up here, be the decent human being and contribute towards society.

Even if you do avoid paying your VAT, Amazon wont take too kindly to you either if they see your giving them false info.

Re: Consequences of not paying VAT
 

Op... we are here to help people get back on ebay and amazon after wrongful suspensions not to help people screw others including the government.

If you make money, then it's only right to pay your dues. It's how the world works...

Re: Consequences of not paying VAT
 

Op no one will give you advise like this, i bet 95% on the forum are above vat limit but they not bother and dont even know how vat system works

They say blah blah dont help to avoid taxes etc but ask them whats stealth is?

Providing ○○○○ info to ebay paypal and amazon whats this ?

Back to your question if you have vaid vat in any eu county then its enough and amazon will not block you

You suppose to pay vat for all other european sale on that vat number
In simple words your italian vat works for germany uk or any eu marketpalce

Re: Consequences of not paying VAT
 

No doubt lots of people avoid vat but the punishments for doing so are fairly severe, probably a year or 2 in jail if you blatantly do it, using fa ke details will make it 5x worse.
You'd be better off just filling a bedroom with weed if you want to break the law in the UK, much easier with higher rewards and a smaller punishment.

Re: Consequences of not paying VAT
 

Alright alright... first of all, thank you everyone for participating here on this delicate topic!

@SaiJin: Thank you for your reply. I started to do business 2 years ago and since then I've been paying every cent to governments. Recently I noticed that many Chinese sellers flooded my product category with impossible prices to compete with. Soon I realized that those prices are feasible not due to their cheaper operations or fewer marketing costs. They just don't pay VAT and other ****. I'm honestly just trying to survive. My profit margin is just ridiculous right now and I can barely pay my employee. Anyone from Europe (especially Italy) knows about the insane tax pressure. Anyway, I'm not here to justify my actions, just wanted to share a bit of my story since you all took some time to read Swim's thread :)

@e2free: Thanks for your help! I do wonder the same... Not sure if "wrongful" suspensions represent the vast majority in here... ;)
You say that an Italian VAT would be enough for all the 5 countries (I do FBA in Italy and Germany), but I'm really not sure about this. I mean I really wish you're right, but I'm quite positive on the fact that as soon as you store goods in a country like Germany or UK and start selling you need to provide with VAT number specific to that country. Hence the pain in the ass of the Pan-european program that translates into mandatory VAT number registration for 7 different countries...

And say that the suspension arrives... Can the stealth account reanimate the old listings? Or do they remove the listings as well? (The products are sold by me only under a private label brand registered in their brand registry with my current amazon account. So I guess the brand is strongly linked to my current amazon account)

Re: Consequences of not paying VAT
 

Trying to recall if listings are removed or do they appear and just can't be selected hmm

Re: Consequences of not paying VAT
 

So, few days ago, this business development guy from Amazon called and told me that as an "appreciated" seller they offer me a special promotion. Basically Amazon is gonna pay for my company's VAT number registrations in 7 European countries and also third party agent vat compliance services for the first year.
Should I take advantage of this? I'm afraid that I might draw even more attention if I'm registered in all those countries. The alternative of not registering for German VAT number is not glowing either. As I keep selling in Germany, I predict to reach the 100k threshold soon and will be required soon to provide with a German VAT number (actually I don't even need to reach that threshold since as a FBA seller I have stock in Germany and therefore it should be mandatory already now to provide a VAT number asap)...
Should I register or not?
I asked this guy what happens to listings of sellers who don't pay VAT. He said that the seller will most likely be suspended but that the listings will remain in Amazon's catalogue, as those listings are Amazon's assets. He argues that it would not make sense to remove a listing just because one of the sellers is not VAT compliant, hindering other sellers from selling on that listing... Mmm... Do someone have clearer thoughts about this?