Amazon seller news · Compliance
Announced by Amazon on 9 September 2026. The fee itself hasn't changed — the timing, the reserve and the invoicing have.
Last updated: 19 September 2026
In brief: from September 2026, Amazon bills its EPR Pay on Behalf service fee for Amazon.co.uk within 30 days, rather than parking the money in your account-level reserve until a later date. The price stays at £20 a year for each EPR category you're enrolled in. The service fee and the eco-contribution now arrive as two separate invoices.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) rules make businesses that place packaging, electrical goods or batteries on the market pay towards their recycling. Amazon's Pay on Behalf service handles the registration and payments for you in return for a service fee, and passes on the eco-contribution — the recycling cost itself.
| Before | From September 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| When the service fee is taken | Held in your account-level reserve, charged later | Charged within 30 days of enrolment for each reporting period |
| Sellers with a non-UK business address | Reserve held | Charged within 30 days of the first qualifying sale in each period; no reserve |
| Service fee | £20 per EPR category per year | Unchanged |
| Invoices | One combined invoice | Two: one for the service fee, one for the eco-contribution |
When a fee is parked in your reserve, part of your payout is held back and released later, which is one of the most common reasons an Amazon payout doesn't match Xero. Charging the fee directly removes that step: the cost appears once, as a charge, instead of a hold followed by a release.
With separate invoices you can — and should — record the two amounts differently. The service fee is a charge for Amazon's administration work, much like its other seller fees. The eco-contribution is your recycling obligation passed through to the scheme. Many sellers keep an "EPR and compliance costs" account so these are visible in the profit and loss rather than buried in general Amazon fees.
Don't assume both invoices carry the same VAT. Download each one and use the VAT shown on it when you post or reclaim — see reclaiming VAT on Amazon seller fees.
Because the fee now lands within 30 days, the full year's £20 per category is booked near the start of each reporting period. If you prepare monthly management accounts, you may prefer to spread it as a prepayment.
TrueBooks posts every line of each Amazon settlement — fees and reserve movements included — so a settlement still matches your bank deposit when charges like this move around. See the Amazon Xero integration.
Source: Amazon Seller Central announcement, 9 September 2026. TrueBooks is independent and not affiliated with Amazon. General information, not tax advice.
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