Amazon FBA sellers in the Netherlands: the 21% VAT on your Amazon ads, can you reclaim it?

Short answer: if you are VAT-registered, you reclaim the 21% VAT on your Amazon ads, on one condition: your btw-id must be entered in Seller Central. Without it, Amazon adds 21% to your ads on the other marketplaces (amazon.de, .fr, .com…), and that VAT cannot be deducted. Under the small business scheme (KOR), selling to consumers, the 21% is lost, and leaving the KOR almost always costs you more than it saves.

For Amazon sellers (FBA and FBM) established in the Netherlands, from the Amazon Advertising Agreement, Amazon Ads' help pages and the Belastingdienst, checked in October 2026. This is information, not tax advice: confirm your case with your accountant.

Work out your case with our free calculator

Who bills your ads, and with what VAT

Amazon bills you from the company of the country your ads run in. The Amazon Advertising Agreement names one "Amazon Contracting Party" per country, the one "for which Customer registers for or uses the Ad Services" (Amazon Advertising Agreement, posted 23 July 2026). For the Netherlands and Belgium, it is Amazon Online Netherlands B.V.

• On amazon.nl and amazon.com.be, 21% is always on the invoice. Amazon Online Netherlands B.V. is a Dutch company, so it charges Dutch VAT like any Dutch supplier. A VAT-registered seller deducts it as input VAT (article 15 of the Wet op de omzetbelasting 1968).
• On the other marketplaces, Amazon charges VAT when it does not have your number. Amazon's tax guide: it may have to collect "the standard rate of VAT/GST applicable to your country of residence or business establishment when a VAT/GST ID isn't provided" (Amazon Ads tax guide). For you, that is 21%. Amazon.com does the same (Amazon Ads help).
• With your number, the invoice carries no VAT and the VAT is shifted to you ("btw verlegd"). You declare it in your VAT return and deduct it in the same return. The Belastingdienst, on services from suppliers outside the EU such as Amazon.com: "Per saldo hoeft u dan geen btw te betalen" (Belastingdienst). Net cost: zero.

You are VAT-registered: check your btw-id in Seller Central

That is most sellers. The number goes into Seller Central, not into the advertising console (Register your Tax ID):

1. In Seller Central, open Account Info.
2. Choose VAT Information, then Add new VAT/GST Registration number.
3. Enter your Dutch btw-id. Amazon asks for a number that "corresponds with your business address": if Amazon stores your stock in other countries, your Dutch number is still the one that counts for ads, because a service to a business is taxed where that business is established (article 6 of the Wet OB).

What a missing number costs: 21% too much on all your ads outside amazon.nl and amazon.com.be. Say €3,000 of ads a month, half of it on amazon.de, .fr and .it: that is €315 a month, €3,780 a year.

Get it refunded by Amazon, do not deduct it. On those invoices, the VAT was yours to account for under the reverse charge, not Amazon's. Amazon refunds when you provide your number and proof of registration "active during the billing period" of the invoice, through the "Contact us" link; allow 30 days (Tax refunds). Amazon publishes no deadline for asking: do it soon. Then account for the VAT on those invoices yourself and deduct the same amount.

An invoice in your name. To deduct, the invoice needs your business name and address: check your billing profile in the Amazon Ads console, Administration, Billing, Payment Settings (Update billing details).

You are in the KOR: the 21% is lost

You can join the KOR while your turnover stays at or below €20,000 a calendar year (Belastingdienst, KOR).

• You deduct nothing. The Belastingdienst: "U trekt de btw over uw zakelijke kosten en investeringen niet af."
• Giving Amazon your number changes nothing. Amazon stops charging VAT on the other marketplaces, but the VAT is then shifted to you: you file a return for it and, with exempt turnover, "U hebt dan geen recht om deze btw af te trekken" (Belastingdienst). On amazon.nl, the 21% is on the invoice anyway.

Leaving the KOR when you sell to consumers: the honest arithmetic

Leaving the KOR gives you back the 21% on your ads, but you must charge 21% on every sale. Consumers cannot reclaim it, and on Amazon your price is the market price: you cannot raise it by 21%. The VAT comes out of your margin.

Example: Sophie sells candles through FBA, €1,500 of sales and €300 of ads a month, prices unchanged (€18,000 a year, under the KOR threshold).

Leaving the KOR costs her €197 a month, about €2,360 a year. She would also reclaim the VAT on her other purchases (Amazon fees, stock), which narrows the loss without closing it. As a rule of thumb: leaving the KOR pays only when your purchases that carry VAT exceed your sales excluding VAT. For a profitable seller to consumers, that almost never happens.

If you leave anyway: you can sign off at any time, and the sign-off takes effect on the first day of the next quarter. Above €20,000 in a calendar year, you must sign off at once (Belastingdienst, KOR).

You sell to businesses: leaving the KOR pays

A business customer reclaims the VAT you charge. You add 21% to your price excluding VAT without losing it, and you deduct the VAT on your ads.

The same Sophie, selling to businesses: with €300 of ads a month, she gains €63 a month, €756 a year, before her accountant's fee. In the calculator, choose "Seller to businesses (B2B)".

What changes if you sell to other EU countries

• Your distance sales above €10,000 a year already carry the buyer's country's VAT. Above that threshold, a distance sale is taxed "in the Member State in which the transport of the goods ends" (European Commission, One Stop Shop). The more of your sales already leave with another country's VAT, the less leaving the KOR costs you: it adds VAT only to your sales taxable in the Netherlands.
• Amazon is not the "deemed supplier" of your sales. That rule covers only sellers established outside the EU (same page). Established in the Netherlands, you account for the VAT on your own sales.

Frequently asked questions

Will Amazon refund the VAT I already paid on ads?

Yes, for invoices from a period when your btw-id was valid: ask through "Contact us", with your proof of registration. The 21% on amazon.nl invoices is not refunded: as a registered seller, you deduct it.

Is my amazon.com.be advertising billed in Belgium?

No. Amazon Online Netherlands B.V. bills it, as it bills amazon.nl. For a Dutch seller, it carries 21% Dutch VAT, deductible when you are registered.

And if I stay in the KOR?

Then every euro of ads that sells nothing costs you €1.21. Cut the searches that spend without selling first: see how Amazon negative keywords work and how much Sponsored Products ads cost. Publishing books too? VAT on Amazon ads for Dutch KDP authors follows other rules.

Work out your case with the Amazon Ads VAT calculator

Sources

• Amazon Advertising Agreement (posted 23 July 2026, "Amazon Contracting Party", "Elected Country"), Amazon Ads
• Complete guide to advertising taxes, fees, and VAT on goods sold, Amazon Ads
• Value Added Tax (VAT) on Electronically Supplied Services (ESS) (updated 3 September 2025), Amazon Ads help
• Register your Tax ID (24 February 2026), Amazon Ads help
• Tax refunds (3 September 2025), Amazon Ads help
• Update billing details (9 April 2026), Amazon Ads help
• Wet op de omzetbelasting 1968, articles 6 (place of a service), 9 (21% rate), 12 (reverse charge) and 15 (deduction), wetten.overheid.nl
• Wat betekent meedoen met de kleineondernemersregeling (KOR)?, Belastingdienst
• Btw-aangifte als u diensten afneemt van leveranciers uit landen buiten de EU, Belastingdienst
• VAT e-Commerce, One Stop Shop (€10,000 threshold, deemed supplier), European Commission

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