Ecommerce News Roundup: January Recap

Sellers beware! Amazon has released the news about both domestic and international taxation recently. We’ve covered some of the past month’s breaking Amazon news and updates in this article, don’t miss out! 

 

Tax collection for orders shipped to Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin – Effective January 1, 2020 

Based on changes to state tax laws in Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, Amazon will begin calculating, collecting, and remitting (as the taxpayer) sales and use tax for all orders shipped to customers in Hawaii, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and use tax in Illinois, on January 1, 2020.

Your existing tax calculation settings, order details, and payments reporting will update automatically to reflect Amazon’s responsibility. Changes to your tax settings or seller account are not required based on Hawaii, Michigan, and Wisconsin state law changes. Your Illinois tax settings will update with state-specific information, and a separate communication for sellers currently using tax calculation services in Illinois will be sent.

Answers to common questions, as well as links to individual state resources, are available in our Marketplace Tax Collection FAQ. However, you should consider working with your tax advisor to determine if your business has any other ongoing tax remittance or reporting obligations.rs.

 

Value Added Tax (VAT) collection on remote services provided to Armenia, Norway, and Switzerland 

Subject to certain conditions, the above countries require non-resident companies providing remote services to collect the VAT on these services when they are provided to residents or people who are not registered for VAT. In this context, remote services provided by Amazon include the Selling on Amazon fees (listing/referral services) and subscription fees.

Unless a seller has provided Amazon with its given country’s VAT ID as evidence that it is VAT-registered in a given country, the rule requires Amazon to collect and remit the given country’s VAT at a standard rate of a certain percentage on Selling on Amazon fees charged to sellers who are residents of a given country.

• The standard rate of Armenia is 20%
• The standard rate of Norway is 25%
• The standard rate of Switzerland is 7%

If you wish Amazon to include your Armenia, Norwegian, or Swiss VAT number on your tax invoices, you can provide your Armenia, Norwegian, or Swiss VAT ID on Seller Central by following the steps given below:

1. Log into Seller Central.
2. Under Settings, click Account Info. 
3. In the section Tax Information, click VAT information. 
4. From the list of countries, select Armenia, Norway, or Switzerland
5. Type your 8-digit VAT ID, for example 0+XXXXXXX. 
6. Click I accept and acknowledge all conditions set out in the Tax registration agreement. 
7. Click Save.

 

Updates to Managing SKUS using the Automate Pricing file 

Sellers using the Automate Pricing tool have more flexibility. Previously, the Regional Automate Pricing file template only supported up to 5,000 SKUs per load, with a maximum of 3 uploads per day. Now, sellers are able to manage up to 30,000 SKUs per load in a 24 hour period with no limitation on the number of files you can submit.

Individual Sellers: This feature is only available to sellers with a Professional selling plan. 

 

Amazon launches in the Netherlands 

On January 15, 2020, Amazon announced that the NL site is officially open for registration to global sellers. Sellers can now register and open a seller account at https://services.amazon.nl to offer more products to local shoppers in addition to e-books. Online shoppers living in the Netherlands will be able to order millions of products through Amazon.nl.

 

Reminder – USPS to implement their annual rate increase  

The United States Postal Service (USPS) will increase their annual postal rates starting from January 26, 2020. The rates on Buy Shipping service will increase to coincide with that.

You can refer to the following pages on the USPS website for information about the applicable shipping service: 

• First Class Mail 
• Media Mail 
• Priority Mail 
• Priority Mail Express

 

Reminder – Long-term storage fee inventory cleanup 

February 15, 2020 is Fulfillment by Amazon’s next scheduled long-term storage fee inventory cleanup. For details, see FBA long-term storage fees.

 

Amazon launches Uber-like package delivery service in Australia 

Amazon Australia has launched an Uber-like delivery service with the launch of Amazon Flex in Sydney and Melbourne to allow people the chance to earn money while delivering Amazon packages to customers with their own schedule. 

 

Brits shun Amazon and eBay products from China over coronavirus fears and consider bleaching parcels 

Concerned shoppers in the UK have stopped purchasing anything from sellers that ship from China to the UK in case they will catch the deadly coronavirus.

Some are even considering bleaching any parcels that arrive through their front door in hope of killing off any trace of coronavirus, although coronavirus is transmitted between animals and people based on currently available information from the WHO (World Health Organization).

Visit the WHO website to find out how to protect yourself.

 

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Christina Chen

February 4, 2020

Pauline's passions lie in eCommerce and supporting individuals in their online selling endeavors. Currently, as a frequent contributor to the BQool Blog, she channels her passions into creating informative contents that break down the complex challenges Amazon sellers face on a daily basis.