Most brands we work with hit the same two walls, in the same order. The first shipment to an Amazon fulfilment centre in Europe is refused at the border. Then, months later, a German listing goes inactive for a reason nobody on the team has heard of.
Neither problem is about tax rates. Both are about paperwork that had to exist before the inventory moved.
This is the one that stops first shipments, and it is written plainly in Amazon's own seller documentation.
Amazon states that it cannot act as importer or exporter of record, and cannot make those arrangements on your behalf. No Amazon fulfilment centre will serve as the importer of record for an FBA delivery. A delivery that attempts to enter with Amazon as the importer of record is refused and returned at the deliverer's expense, with no exceptions.
In Europe, Amazon will not serve as the consignee either, although you may enter the fulfilment centre address preceded by in care of.
So someone has to be the importer of record, and that someone is responsible for filing the customs documents and paying the assessed duties and import VAT. Deciding who that is, before the freight leaves, is the first compliance decision you make, not the last.
If your company is established outside the European Union, you need an EORI number to move goods across the EU customs border. We handle the registration.
For distance sales into the EU, IOSS is the mechanism that lets import VAT be collected at the point of sale instead of at the border, which is the difference between a customer who receives a parcel and a customer who receives a demand for a payment they did not expect. We handle IOSS registration as well.
Storage does.
If your inventory sits in a fulfilment centre in a country, you need a VAT number in that country. Not because you sold anything there. Because the goods are physically there.
Selling is a separate question. Goods shipped from one EU country to consumers in another can be declared through OSS on a single return, with no local registration in the destination country.
The practical consequence is worth stating in one line: the moment you enrol in Pan-EU or in the CEE placement programme, you have decided to register for VAT in every country Amazon will store your goods in. That decision is usually made by someone looking at fulfilment fees, not at compliance cost.
Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom are the five markets we work in most. We extend registrations to any other EU country on request.
From a complete file, registration takes 4 to 8 weeks in EU countries and 2 to 4 weeks in the United Kingdom.
The document set is the same in principle everywhere: company documents, shareholder and director documents, a valid tax registration, and the application itself. Everything has to be current. The most common reason a file stalls is not the tax authority, it is an expired certificate or a director document that no longer matches the company register. For companies established outside the EU, the exact set varies by country and we confirm it with you before we start rather than after.
We hand you the Amazon OSS sales report in the form it can be filed from.
Your accountant files the return. We do not file tax returns on your behalf and we do not stand in for your accountant.
Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste, published on 22 January 2025, replaces the previous Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive 94/62/EC and introduces new rules across every EU country. Amazon tells sellers the requirements apply from 12 August 2026, and that individual member states have not yet published all the detail of how they will implement them.
What the regulation requires of a producer, as a list:
And one requirement that catches sellers out: a producer established in the EU but not in the country of sale must appoint an authorised representative established in that country. For companies established outside the EU, the requirement varies by market and we confirm it per country.
The registers are national, not European. Germany runs through ZSVR, Italy through CONAI, Spain through MITECO, France through EMPAP, Poland through BDO, the Netherlands through Verpact, Belgium through Fostplus, Ireland through Repak, Portugal through siliamb. Different processes, different deadlines, different reporting formats.
The United Kingdom is not subject to the EU packaging regulation and runs its own regime.
If you sell electrical or electronic equipment, packaging registration is not enough. You also need WEEE registration.
If your products contain batteries, battery EPR is added on top.
Separate registers, separate numbers, separate reports. In Germany, Amazon checks two categories: packaging, and electrical and electronic equipment.
Your listings are deactivated.
That is not our interpretation. Amazon states that it is legally obliged to check EPR compliance in Germany and to deactivate non-compliant listings. If you have not submitted a LUCID number, or the number you submitted is invalid, listings go down. The rule applies to your product packaging and to your shipping packaging, including the packaging used by FBA.
The contrast with VAT is the part worth remembering. A missing VAT number limits where you can store inventory; you can still sell into that country from elsewhere in the EU. A missing EPR number stops the sale.
Not in the EU, not covered by OSS, not covered by the EU packaging regulation. Its own VAT registration, its own packaging regime, its own timelines. Treat it as a second project, not as a sixth marketplace.
We do not provide tax advisory. We do not file corporate income tax returns. We do not handle retroactive registrations or negotiate penalties with tax authorities.
If you already have an open case with a tax authority in another country, you need a local tax adviser rather than us. We tell you that in the first conversation, not after you sign.
Not sure whether you need a registration or a change in logistics? Book a free compliance audit and we will put in writing what you owe in each market you sell in.