Amazon Call-Off Stock: Pan-EU FBA with One VAT Number

In brief: Amazon call-off stock removes a barrier: normally, storing FBA stock in an EU country means registering for VAT there. On 29 November 2023 Amazon launched a call-off stock (COS) route into Pan-European FBA, using an EU-wide VAT simplification. With a single VAT number in Germany, France, Italy or Spain, you can let Amazon store eligible products in the other three. You keep ownership of the stock while it moves; when a customer orders, Amazon buys the unit from you and resells it to the customer. Germany is only available to sellers who meet all the COS eligibility rules.

How Amazon call-off stock works

Step	What happens
Set-up	Hold a verified VAT number in DE, FR, IT or ES and use FBA there; choose placement countries in FBA settings
Storage	Amazon places your stock in the chosen countries; you still own it
Sale	Amazon buys the unit from you at the moment of order and sells it on

Amazon claimed fulfilment savings of up to 53% compared with the European Fulfilment Network, and sales increases of up to 30% for Pan-EU sellers, based on its own 2020 study.

A worked example

A seller registered for VAT only in France switches on COS placement in Spain and Italy. Spanish customers now get Prime delivery from Spanish warehouses at local fulfilment rates, instead of cross-border fees from France. The seller needs no Spanish or Italian VAT registration for this, but each sale is now technically a sale to Amazon.

What it means for your bookkeeping

• Your stock, in more places. Units stored under COS still belong to you until Amazon buys them, so they stay in your stock valuation wherever they sit.

• Different VAT on these sales. Because Amazon buys each unit, the VAT treatment differs from a normal sale to a consumer. Take it from Amazon's VAT reports and agree it with your adviser.

• Germany needs care. If you've traded in Germany before, previous activity may already have required German VAT registration — Amazon advised consulting a tax adviser.

• Lower fees show up in settlements. Local fulfilment rates should replace cross-border ones for the countries you add.

• Getting the codes right. Sales to Amazon need their own VAT treatment — see Amazon VAT tax codes in Xero and zero-rated versus standard-rated sales.

How TrueBooks helps

TrueBooks keeps each Amazon marketplace in its own currency and posts fulfilment fees from every settlement to Xero, so you can see the fee saving by marketplace. It doesn't file VAT returns. See the Amazon Xero integration.