Online VAT registration

Receiving the VAT number can take up to 12 weeks. It varies from country to country.  For example, in Germany, the timescale is approximately 8 weeks, because at the beginning company needs to get the general tax number Steuernummer in German. The same approach in France: at first company needs to obtain a French tax number SIREN (or SIRET) and an average timeframe for  French VAT registration is 6 weeks. Quite often during the process tax officer can ask to provide additional information or documents and it also may lengthen the process. Normally you can start to sell and have 30 days to receive your VAT certificate. You can ask our support team about the current average VAT registration duration for your country.

300 EUR – VAT registration only fee

or

150 EUR VAT registration fee with commitment of 6 months VAT reporting subscription (any plan)

The processing time for VAT registration in Belgium is typically 3-4 weeks from the date that the Belgian tax authorities receive all of the required documentation. However, the processing time may be longer if the tax authorities have any questions about the application or if the application is incomplete.

Yes, you can start an Amazon FBA business without a VAT number at the beginning and obtain it later.

Tips for starting an Amazon FBA business without a VAT number:

• Choose a country to store your goods that have a high VAT registration threshold. This will give you more time to grow your business before you need to register for VAT.
• Sell goods to customers in countries that have a high VAT registration threshold. This will also give you more time to grow your business before you need to register for VAT in those countries.
• When you start selling goods to customers in a country where you need to register for VAT, you can contact Lovat and we will help you with the registration.
• With the Lovat platform, you will be able to control the volume of your sales, track thresholds, and register for VAT when you need to.

It depends on whether you are a company or an individual entrepreneur. The main document is a trade register extract (good standing). These documents prove a current status of a business in its country of establishment. Sometimes Copy of the Memorandum and Articles of Association is needed. Document for director of the company – passport or ID card.

The majority of countries accept documents in English. But some countries ask to have a translation to Local language and sometimes even sworn translation.

Yes. We can register your company for VAT  in non-European countries. Some countries for example Brazil don’t have simple VAT registration. To receive a VAT number seller needs to register a subsidiary or a local entity. To get a VAT number in Switzerland businesses need to appoint a local tax representative. To clarify requirements for the specific country you can in our VAT guides or ask in the support chat.

The Majority have requirement that a business must have taxable activity to be able to apply for VAT. Among such countries Latvia, Germany, France. To be able to register for VAT in these countries you need to support your application with a proof that a business has obligations to be registered.

Examples of the reasons for registrations:
• contracts with local customers
• sales to local customers
• lease of warehouse contract
• fulfillment center contract

Very few countries allow voluntary VAT registration – the UK, Russia and some others. That meant that in these countries you don’t need to proof that you have taxable actively you may register for VAT voluntarily.

Each country has a rule about turnover for domestic businesses, this rule normally doesn’t apply to distance sales. For the EU-based business selling to other EU countries commutative turnover below 10K euro. That means that EU-based businesses selling remotely less than 10K euro per year to other EU countries don’t need to register for VAT. Other distant sales thresholds you can check at our VAT guides section.

If you want to check a European vat number you may use our VAT number checker API or use EU website to check numbers one by one. Bear in mind that at this website you may only check the number registered for intracommunity operations. Sometimes VAT numbers might be valid for sales inside a country only. Such numbers you can check with the local tax authority website. For example, for the UK VAT number, you can check it here. When you are the EU business you don’t need to check VAT numbers for your outside-EU contractors.

Generally, distance sales thresholds or general tax registration doesn’t apply to foreign businesses. For Example VAT registration threshold in Romania is RON 300 000 (EUR 88.500) and the distance sales threshold is EUR 10 000. When a company established in the UK starts to sell goods or services taxable in Romania this company cannot benefit from any of the above thresholds and need to register from the first euro. Because first threshold (EUR 88.500) is for locally established businesses and the second threshold is for EU established businesses.

It depends on what you sell first of all. For example, when you sell exempted goods or services only you don’t need to register for VAT in the UK.

If you have already made taxable transactions but failed to register, the legislation in most countries allows you to register with back-dated registration date. Usually, even when you report your sales retrospectively you cannot credit incoming vat invoices for corresponding periods. You can read more in our article here.

No. To be able to apply for VAT registration a person needs to be registered as a business.

At first, it is essential to understand the reason for this rejection. If you believe that you have a right to be registered you may raise an objection. Normally you have from 10-60 days to appeal against the tax authority’s decision. You may attach supporting documents to your appeal.

Yes, as soon as you change your business name, the business address you need to notify tax offices where you have VAT numbers. You need to fill the special form to make such changes. Tax authorities will reissue VAT certificates with a new name or address. The average time for this is 30 days.

Yes, you do. If you store goods in Belgium, you are required to register for VAT in Belgium and comply with the Belgian VAT rules. This applies to all Amazon sellers who use the Amazon warehouse in Belgium, which will receive goods from other Amazon Logistics centers like France and Germany.