I’d like to share some concerns about the potentially problematic way Amazon implements its obligations under the EU’s DAC7 directive. I've been experiencing a deeply frustrating issue and want to raise awareness—not just for myself, but also because I've seen other EU sellers struggling with similar problems.
What's the issue?
Under EU law (specifically DAC7), Amazon is required to verify and report certain tax-related information, including VAT numbers, for sellers based in the EU—even if we're selling on the Amazon US marketplace. While this requirement itself is understandable, Amazon’s practical implementation raises serious social and legal questions.
Practical Example from My Experience
I'm a sole proprietor based in the EU. My official VAT registration is done under my registered trade name, which is standard practice and fully compliant with EU regulations. Despite this, when I attempt to complete Amazon’s DAC7 tax interview, it fails to verify. Amazon seller support then explicitly demands that I enter my trade name in the tax interview, to match my VAT registration. But here's the catch:
- Amazon's tax interview form for individual sellers in the US explicitly only allows the entry of a first and last name, as shown on personal income tax returns.
- There is no option at all to enter a trade or business name in this form, making compliance literally impossible.
This creates a direct contradiction:
- Amazon support instructions: Your Seller Central legal name must match your VAT registration name (in my case, my trade name). Check company name on What is your legal name used for tax purposes.
- Amazon's actual US tax interview form for individual seller: Fields for first and last name, no option for trade name, or legal name for tax purposes.
Moreover, when I've sought support from Amazon, their responses have compounded the confusion:
- They repeatedly provided me with a link to a tax interview form for Seller Central Europe, despite explicitly stating multiple times that I only sell on the US marketplace and have no EU Seller Central account.
- Every attempt to clarify this misunderstanding with seller support results in exactly the same circular response, leaving me trapped in an impossible loop with no resolution.
This scenario is NOT an isolated event—I have opened multiple cases with Amazon seller support both recently and before this year, always receiving the same impossible-to-implement instructions. This strongly suggests a systemic failure rather than an individual misunderstanding.
To repeat, like seller support, I have opened MULTIPLE support cases with Amazon both recently and before this year. Each time, seller support provides precisely the SAME UNWORKABLE INSTRUCTIONS, indicating a deeper systemic issue rather than mere individual misunderstandings.
Potential Legal Issues (DAC7 & Digital Services Act):
Upon careful review, this issue raises legitimate legal questions about Amazon’s compliance with EU laws:
1. DAC7 Directive (Council Directive EU 2021/514) clearly requires platforms, including Amazon, to collect and accurately report VAT numbers and income for sellers residing in the EU, regardless of the marketplace location. [DAC7 Directive Source: Council Directive (EU) 2021/514] (URL not allowed to be shared on forums)
- Under DAC7’s due diligence requirements, platforms must use reasonable and appropriate efforts to verify seller information accurately. Yet, is it reasonable for Amazon to ask sellers to change the registered VAT name with the authorities – In other words, to "rewrite" legally accurate and EU-authorized VAT registrations just to suit Amazon’s own internal systems?
- Under DAC7, Amazon must verify VAT numbers using official EU databases like the official EU VIES database and must ensure that sellers can provide their legally valid VAT registration names. Amazon’s current system prevents individual EU sellers from verifying a VAT number registered under a trade name, thereby potentially causing inaccurate reporting or incomplete data submission—precisely what DAC7 aims to avoid.
2. The Digital Services Act (DSA) also places obligations on large platforms like Amazon to ensure their interfaces and verification processes facilitate rather than hinder compliance. ("compliance by design") and they must maintain clear, fair procedures. [DSA Source: Regulation (EU) 2022/2065] (URL not allowed to be shared on forums)
- The EU’s DSA further emphasizes transparency, accountability, and effective support procedures for online platforms. Amazon’s repeated issuance of invalid links, impossible-to-follow instructions, and ineffective support processes raises the question of whether these constitute violations of the DSA's requirement for platforms to design procedures that enable compliance clearly and fairly.
In short, Amazon’s current approach—refusing valid VAT numbers due to internal limitations and repeatedly sending sellers through impractical loops—may place it in questionable legal standing under both DAC7 and the DSA.
Moreover, in a few replies seller support asked me to alter official EU-validated VAT registration details with authorities, simply to fit Amazon’s internal system constraints. This could constitute a potentially problematic overreach of Amazon's authority, potentially violating fundamental EU principles of proportionality and fairness.
Other Sellers Experiencing Similar Issues
To confirm I'm not alone in this Kafkaesque loop, here are examples from other sellers who've faced similar challenges:
Other sellers on Amazon forums have described similar frustrating experiences, including this leading to trying to submit a sole proprietorship as a legal company, for example:
Why This Matters:
These concerns aren't just frustrating. They raise significant legal compliance issues that could affect many EU-based sellers on the Amazon US platform. If Amazon’s processes lead to inaccurate reporting or failure to collect required information properly, it could potentially put both sellers and Amazon at risk of penalties from EU tax and regulatory authorities.
Possible Solutions:
To address these potential compliance issues, Amazon should consider:
- Updating its US marketplace tax interview form to allow EU-based sole proprietors to include both their personal and trade names.
- Manually verifying valid VAT numbers (via VIES) to resolve any artificial system-generated mismatches.
- Reviewing and rectifying seller support workflows to ensure coherent, accurate, and implementable instructions.
Recent seller support cases: 2024 (1) case 16349763131, 2024 (2) case 16463603461, 2024 (3) case 16517870671, 2024 (4) case 16629440731, 2024 (5) case 16664811831, 2025 (unanswered) case 17357720891, 2025 (1) case 17396769041, 2025 (2) case 17447843021
My recent forum posts: related to this issue
