Amazon FBA sellers in Ireland: the 23% VAT on your Amazon ads, can you reclaim it?

Short answer: if you are VAT-registered, you reclaim the 23% VAT on your Amazon ads, on one condition: your VAT number must be entered in Seller Central. Every Amazon ad an Irish seller buys is billed from outside Ireland, so without your number Amazon adds 23% to every euro of ads. If you are not registered and sell to consumers, the 23% is a pure cost, and registering for your sales to reclaim it usually costs you more than it saves.

For Amazon sellers (FBA and FBM) established in Ireland, from the Amazon Advertising Agreement, Amazon Ads' help pages, Revenue's guidance and the VAT Consolidation Act 2010, 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: never an Irish company

Amazon has no Irish company for ads. The Amazon Advertising Agreement names one "Amazon Contracting Party" per country your ads run in. Ireland is not on the list, so it falls under Amazon Online UK Limited, for "the United Kingdom or any other country located in Europe" outside the EU marketplaces it names (Amazon Advertising Agreement, posted 23 July 2026).

• With your number, the invoice carries no VAT and you self-account. A business in the State that receives a service from a supplier established outside the State "is accountable for, and liable to pay, the tax chargeable in the State" (section 12(1) of the VAT Consolidation Act 2010). You declare the 23% and reclaim it on the same return (section 59(2)). Net cost: zero.
• Without your number, Amazon charges Irish VAT. 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). Revenue says the same from the other side: "You must provide your VAT number to the supplier otherwise you may pay VAT in the other Member State."

You are VAT-registered: check your number in Seller Central

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 Irish VAT number. Amazon asks for a number that "corresponds with your business address": if Amazon stores your stock in other countries, your Irish number is still the one that counts for ads, because a service to a business is taxed where that business is established (section 34(a)).

What a missing number costs: 23% too much on all your ads.

Get it refunded by Amazon, do not reclaim it on your return. On those invoices, the VAT was yours to self-account, 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 self-account for those invoices and reclaim the same amount.

An invoice in your name. Check that your billing profile carries your business name and address: Amazon Ads console, Administration, Billing, Payment Settings (Update billing details).

You are not registered: the ads still pull you in

Selling goods, you need not register for your sales while your turnover stays at or below €85,000 a year (90% or more from goods), or €42,500 for services (Revenue, VAT thresholds). But the ads have no threshold. Revenue: "There is no registration threshold for received services" (Revenue, received services). Every Amazon ad you buy is a service received from abroad.

Registering for the ads does not make you charge VAT on your sales. Section 6(1) keeps a business under the thresholds outside VAT on its sales "unless they so elect", and Revenue's own page treats sub-threshold businesses as choosing to register for their sales (Elect to register). Section 12(1) makes you accountable for the tax on the received service itself. The one risk sits in section 12(3), which writes "only in respect of" received services for farmers and fishers but says nothing of small traders; to have it settled for your business, ask Revenue for an opinion through the Revenue Technical Service.

So, registered for the ads only, you pay the 23% to Revenue instead of to Amazon. To reclaim it, you elect to register for your sales too, and then you charge 23% on them.

Electing to register when you sell to consumers: the honest arithmetic

Registering for your sales gives you back the 23% on your ads, but you must charge 23% on every sale. Consumers cannot reclaim it, and on Amazon your price is the market price: you cannot raise it by 23%. The VAT comes out of your margin.

Example: Sophie sells candles through FBA, €5,000 of sales and €1,000 of ads a month, prices unchanged (€60,000 a year, under the goods threshold).

Electing costs her €705 a month, about €8,460 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: registering for your sales 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 elect anyway: "You can only elect to register for VAT from a current date" (Revenue): it never reaches back.

You sell to businesses: registering pays

A business customer reclaims the VAT you charge. You add 23% to your price excluding VAT without losing it, and you reclaim the VAT on your ads.

The same Sophie, selling to businesses: with €1,000 of ads a month, she gains €230 a month, €2,760 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 registering for your sales costs you: it adds Irish VAT only to your sales taxable in Ireland.
• Amazon is not the "deemed supplier" of your sales. That rule covers only sellers established outside the EU (same page). Established in Ireland, 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 VAT registration was already active, according to Amazon Ads' "Tax refunds" page. Before you registered, nothing is refunded.

Is there a minimum ad spend before I must register?

No. Revenue: "There is no registration threshold for received services."

And if I keep paying the 23%?

Then every euro of ads that sells nothing costs you €1.23. 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 Irish 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
• 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
• Current VAT rates, Revenue
• Self-accounting for VAT on received services, Revenue
• VAT thresholds, Revenue
• Who may elect to register for VAT? (published 8 December 2025), Revenue
• Revenue Technical Service, Revenue
• Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010, section 6, section 12, section 34 and section 59, Law Reform Commission (revised acts)
• VAT e-Commerce, One Stop Shop (€10,000 threshold, deemed supplier), European Commission

Gloriads is an Amazon Ads automation platform that creates, monitors and optimizes Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Display and Streaming TV campaigns for sellers, brands, authors and agencies, by rules you control. See how it works.