Are you thinking of selling on Amazon?
Amazon is very big, very, very big, and you may think that selling on such a big company is easier to defraud the tax authorities. We say no.
In fact, if you are charging Amazon for transactions without VAT, don’t do it, the tax authorities know about it.
One of the most important and effective ways to control tax fraud is big data. Big data is all about analysing and cross-referencing huge amounts of data. Millions of data.
And if there are differences between those data, incongruent or erroneous data, for the Spanish tax authorities, it is very likely that you are committing tax fraud and they will inspect you.
A tax inspection is worse than going to the dentist. Much, much worse.
And how do the tax authorities obtain this information?
By “forcing” large companies to provide it.
And what big company comes to mind? Amazon
The internet retailer Amazon has an agreement with the Tax Agency to provide them with quarterly data on companies and self-employed people who sell on Amazon in order to look for sales where VAT and other indirect taxes are not declared.
Amazon Spain will provide the Tax Agency with quarterly data on sellers operating on its platform, which will allow the Treasury to search for and detect tax fraud.
Specifically, sales in which VAT or other indirect taxes have not been declared.
The largest online sales company has signed an agreement with the Treasury, the first of its kind in Spain, which, according to Cinco Dias, could be followed by other similar agreements with firms such as eBay or Alibaba.
The great boom in Spain of internet commerce through these platforms, the agreement states, “has created opportunities for abuse of the tax system, mainly in the area of indirect taxation”.
And with this agreement with Amazon, “tax compliance will be ensured”.
But what data will Amazon provide to the tax authorities?
Specifically, Amazon will have to submit quarterly information to the Tax Agency, including :
The legal name of the seller
– The VAT registration number in Spain or, failing that, the identification number in the EU;
– The total number of units shipped to customers resident or established in Spain through Amazon.es;
– The percentage of units delivered from warehouses in Spain.
– The average selling price per unit in euros, among other data.
Under this “voluntary (is it really voluntary?) and non-legally binding” agreement (in practice, yes), Amazon is also committed to informing the Tax Agency of possible non-compliance by sellers using its platform.
Don’t think that this is only Amazon’s business, you also inform the tax authorities. How can you do this?
By means of form 347 if you operate in Spain or form 349 if you operate in Europe. Banks also report to the tax authorities, and boonking.com reports the income of the people who advertise on its portal. We all report to the tax authorities.
If you as a self-employed person or company carry out transactions in the year of more than €3,000 is your liability to report to the tax authorities with form 347.
Form 349 is the same but for all transactions in Europe (intra-community).
The tax authorities, for their part and as always, state that the objective is “to advance in the complete tax identification of companies that sell online and that, although they are not domiciled in Spain, must pay VAT here, for their sales to final consumers located in Spain”.
Our advice: don’t gamble because it’s not worth it. If the tax authorities catch you cheating, it can be very expensive.
Contact our professionals with or without selling on Amazon, we will help you to comply with your tax obligations and avoid headaches.
