VAT on Amazon ads in Poland (23%): what FBA and FBM sellers get back

As an active VAT payer (czynny podatnik VAT), a Polish Amazon seller deducts the full 23% VAT on Amazon ads: 1,000 zł of ads cost 1,000 zł. Under the small-business exemption (sales up to 240,000 zł a year), the 23% is lost: 2,760 zł a year on 1,000 zł of ads a month. Giving up the exemption gets it back, but then your sales carry 23% VAT: a seller to consumers who cannot raise prices loses about 2,500 zł a month by doing it. And if you sell cosmetics or electronics online, the exemption was never open to you.

For Seller Central sellers (FBA and FBM) established in Poland, based on the Polish VAT act (consolidated text, Dz.U. 2026 poz. 1263), government pages and Amazon Ads help, read in October 2026. This is information, not tax advice.

Your own figures: Amazon Ads VAT calculator, Poland and « FBA & FBM seller » preselected.

The answer by situation

Who bills your ads, and with what VAT

The Amazon company that bills you depends on the marketplace your ads run on (Amazon Advertising Agreement, « Amazon Contracting Party »):

• amazon.pl: a Polish company supplies you in Poland. The invoice always carries 23% Polish VAT, with or without your VAT number.
• Other marketplaces: without a valid VAT number, Amazon charges « the standard rate of VAT/GST applicable to your country of residence »: 23%. With one, the invoice comes without VAT and you account for the 23% yourself as an import of services (import usług, article 17, paragraph 1, point 4).

Active VAT payer: the 23% costs you nothing

You deduct VAT on what you use for taxable sales (article 86, paragraph 1), whether you sell to consumers or to businesses.

• amazon.pl: you pay 1,230 zł, you deduct 230 zł. Real cost: 1,000 zł.
• Other marketplaces, with your VAT-UE number: the invoice is 1,000 zł. You report 230 zł of output VAT and deduct the same 230 zł in the same JPK_V7. Real cost: 1,000 zł.

The common mistake: no VAT-UE registration

Your number works outside Poland only once you are registered as a VAT-UE taxpayer. Article 97, paragraph 3 extends that registration to taxpayers who buy services that would be an import of services for them: your ads on amazon.de, amazon.fr or amazon.it.

1. Register for VAT-UE with the VAT-R form at your tax office.
2. Add PL + your NIP in Seller Central: Account Info, VAT Information, « Add new VAT/GST Registration number ». Amazon Ads takes sellers' numbers from there and asks that the number « corresponds with your business address ».
3. Report each foreign ad invoice as an import of services.

Without a valid number, Amazon bills you as a consumer, at 23%. That VAT is not deductible: an invoice showing VAT on a taxable transaction « dla których nie wykazuje się kwoty podatku na fakturze » is no basis for deduction (article 88, paragraph 3a, point 7). The fix is to get it back from Amazon.

What about invoices you already paid with VAT?

• Amazon refunds VAT charged by mistake, on two conditions in its help: a valid VAT number and a registration certificate « active during the billing period ». If you registered for VAT-UE later, those invoices are not refunded this way. Ask through « Contact us »; it takes about 30 days.
• amazon.pl invoices you never deducted: you can still deduct them by correcting a return, « niepóźniej jednak niż w ciągu 5 lat » from the start of the year the right arose (article 86, paragraph 13).

VAT-exempt: the 23% is lost

An exempt seller deducts nothing. Deduction is reserved for active VAT payers (article 88, paragraph 4), and the government portal is blunt about foreign services: « Jeśli jesteś podatnikiem VAT zwolnionym, musisz zapłacić VAT należny, ale nie możesz go odliczyć ».

Giving Amazon a number does not change it. Even exempt, you are a taxpayer: ads billed from another country are an import of services you must declare and pay (article 17, paragraph 1, point 4), after registering for VAT-UE (article 97, paragraph 3). Same 23%, more paperwork.

Many online sellers cannot be exempt at all

The exemption does not apply to sellers who sell these goods at a distance, online included (article 113, paragraph 13, point 1, letter f):

• cosmetics and toiletries (PKWiU 20.42.1);
• computers, electronic and optical products (PKWiU 26);
• electrical equipment (PKWiU 27);
• machinery not elsewhere classified (PKWiU 28).

Car and motorcycle parts and accessories (letter g) and the goods of annex 12 are out too. If you sell them on Amazon, you are an active VAT payer from the first złoty, and you deduct the 23% on your ads.

Should you give up the exemption to deduct it?

You can: give the tax office written notice « przed początkiem miesiąca » in which you give it up (article 113, paragraph 4). You can come back to it only one full year after the end of the year you left (paragraph 11). From then on, your sales carry 23% VAT.

Example: a seller to consumers

18,000 zł of sales and 3,600 zł of ads a month (216,000 zł a year, under the 240,000 zł limit), prices that cannot go up.

Giving up the exemption costs this seller 2,538 zł a month, about 30,500 zł a year. The buyers are consumers: they pay the VAT and cannot get it back. Deducting 828 zł on ads does not make up for 3,366 zł of VAT on sales.

Example: the same seller, to businesses

Selling to businesses, the seller invoices 18,000 zł + 23% VAT. The buyers deduct it, so the price they really pay does not move. As an active VAT payer the seller keeps 18,000 zł, pays 3,600 zł of ads and keeps 14,400 zł, against 13,572 zł exempt: +828 zł a month, the VAT on the ads. In the calculator, choose « Seller to businesses (B2B) ».

Above 240,000 zł you have no choice: the exemption ends « począwszy od czynności, którą przekroczono tę kwotę » (paragraph 5). From then on you deduct the 23% on ads.

Frequently asked questions

I hold stock in other countries with Pan-European FBA. Which number do I give Amazon Ads?

Your Polish one, if your business is established in Poland. Amazon asks that the number match your business address, and a service to a business is taxed where it is established (article 28b).

Can the tax office confirm my case in advance?

Yes. An individual interpretation from the Director of KIS answers for your own case: form ORD-IN, 40 zł, an answer within 3 months.

Is the rate really 23% if the act says 22%?

Yes. Article 41 sets 22%, but article 146ef keeps 23% for now, and podatki.gov.pl lists 23% as the standard rate.

Sources

• Ustawa o podatku od towarów i usług, Dz.U. 2026 poz. 1263, articles 17, 28b, 41, 86, 88, 97, 113 and 146ef, Sejm
• Stawki VAT (23% rate, 240,000 zł limit), podatki.gov.pl
• Import usług, biznes.gov.pl
• Najważniejsze informacje o wniosku (individual interpretations), podatki.gov.pl
• Amazon Advertising Agreement (« Amazon Contracting Party », « Elected Country », posted 23 July 2026), Amazon Ads
• Complete guide to advertising taxes, fees, and VAT, Amazon Ads
• VAT on Electronically Supplied Services, Register your Tax ID and Tax refunds, Amazon Ads help

Check your own figures with the Amazon Ads VAT calculator for Poland. Whatever your status, the VAT you lose is a share of the spend: cutting clicks that never sell cuts it too. See how negative keywords work and automatic vs manual targeting.

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