U.S. Income Reporting & Tax Identity Collection FAQ

Due to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations, U.S. third-party settlement organizations and payment processors, including Amazon, are required to file Form 1099-K for U.S. taxpayer sellers who meet the following thresholds in a calendar year:

• More than $20,000 in unadjusted gross sales, and
• More than 200 transactions.

If you do not meet both of these thresholds, you will not receive an IRS Form 1099-K.

You can provide your information to Amazon by clicking here to use our self-service Tax Interview process that will guide you through entering your taxpayer information and validating your W-9 or W-8BEN form.

How do I update my tax information and legal business name?

To update your tax information, you must complete the U.S. Tax Identity Information Interview.

To update your legal business name:

1. Go to Settings, and click Account Info
2. Under Business Information, click Legal Entity.
3. Enter your Legal Business Name and click Update.

I am a U.S. taxpayer. What information do I need to provide to Amazon?

By completing the Tax Interview in your seller account, you will be providing Amazon the appropriate tax identity in the form of a W-9 or W-8BEN form.

For U.S. taxpayers, a TIN is required by the IRS for the administration of tax laws. In most cases, your TIN is either an Employer Identification Number (EIN) or a Social Security Number (SSN).

I am a foreign seller and not a U.S. taxpayer. Do I need to provide any information to Amazon?

Yes, even if you are a non-US taxpayer, you still need to provide us information and the responses you give to the Tax Interview wizard questions will create the appropriate tax form on your behalf.

IRS regulations require non-U.S. taxpayers to provide Form W-8BEN to Amazon in order to be exempt from U.S. tax reporting requirements.

Additionally, Amazon must obtain identifying information, such as a tax ID, from certain sellers on Amazon’s non-US websites. In general, the IRS regulations require Amazon to collect identifying information from sellers who have a US address, US banking information, or other identifying information connecting the seller to the US.

I am not going to come even close to hitting the reporting threshold. Why does Amazon require my tax identity?

All sellers on Amazon.com, regardless of the number of transactions they have in a calendar year, are required to complete the Tax Information Interview.

I received an email stating that my Form W-8 is expiring or has already expired. How do I give Amazon new or updated information?

The IRS requires Amazon to maintain a current Form W-8 for merchants, individuals, or entities who are not U.S. persons. For more information about how the IRS defines U.S. persons, see here.

If you have received an email from Amazon stating that your Form W-8 is expiring or has expired, you must complete an updated Tax Interview to continue selling. To access the Tax Interview, see instructions here. If you are a non-U.S. person, failure to maintain a current Form W-8 will result in suspension of your selling privileges.

I have provided my tax identity information. How long will it take to see if it is valid?

After you update your tax identity information, the Legal Entity section of your Account Info page will display Provided and Pending Validation. If we find your information does not match IRS records, we will send you an email with instructions on how to proceed. If you choose to mail your hard copy document instead of consenting to electronic signatures, we will require 10-15 business days to process upon receipt.

The validation process can take up to eight weeks from the time Amazon receives your information, either electronically or via mail, if you checked the box that states "I have received my EIN/SSN within 60 Days" while taking the tax interview.