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Amazon FBA Europe to US: Sales Tax & Nexus Guide

How European Amazon FBA sellers expand to Amazon.com in 2026. Navigate US marketplace facilitator laws, 25-state physical nexus, EINs, and Form 5472.

GoodVat Team

October 22, 2026·9 min read

If you run a profitable Amazon FBA brand across Europe, you already know pain. You have survived 27 different VAT rates, monthly OSS returns, German LUCID packaging laws, and customs brokers who go on strike every third Tuesday.

Then you look at Amazon.com: one country, one language, one currency, and over $400 billion in annual GMV.

Here is the irony: European sellers either assume the US tax system works just like EU VAT (and panic about registering in 50 states before their first shipment), or they hear someone in a Facebook group say “Amazon pays all US sales tax!” and walk straight into a multi-state physical nexus trap—or a $25,000 IRS penalty.

The short answer: selling on Amazon.com from Europe is dramatically easier to launch than Pan-European FBA, provided you understand three things: Marketplace Facilitator laws, FBA Physical Nexus, and why you probably shouldn’t open a Delaware LLC on a whim.

Here is the no-nonsense 2026 playbook for European Amazon FBA sellers expanding to the United States.

EU VAT vs. US Sales Tax: Unlearning Your European Habits

Before you ship your first pallet to Dallas or Los Angeles, forget how European VAT works. The United States does not have a federal VAT. Instead, 45 states (plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico) run their own independent sales tax systems, stacked with county, city, and special transit district rates totaling over 14,000 tax jurisdictions.

Tax Feature	European Union (VAT)	United States (Sales Tax)
Tax Administered By	National tax offices (27 countries) + EU OSS	45 individual state Departments of Revenue + local cities/counties
Displayed Price on Amazon	Tax-inclusive (e.g., €29.99 includes 19% MwSt)	Tax-exclusive ($29.99 on the listing; sales tax added at checkout)
Import Tax at Customs	17%–27% Import VAT (reclaimable if registered)	0% US Sales Tax at customs (only customs tariffs/duties apply)
Can you reclaim tax paid on expenses?	Yes (Input VAT deduction)	No (Sales tax is a retail consumption tax; businesses use resale certificates instead)
Marketplace Collection	Deemed supplier for non-EU sellers	Marketplace Facilitator laws in all 45 sales-tax states

Notice row four: there is no “Import Sales Tax” at the US border. When your container clears US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), you pay applicable customs duties based on your HS tariff code, not a 20% VAT deposit. Your cash flow just got 20% lighter.

How Amazon FBA Works in the US (And the Physical Nexus Trap)

When you create a shipment in US Seller Central, Amazon might have you ship your cartons to a single receiving facility in California (ONT8) or Texas (FTW1). Once checked in, Amazon’s fulfillment network automatically distributes your inventory across 25 to 30+ US states so Prime shoppers in New York, Florida, Illinois, and Washington can get two-day delivery.

How does that affect your US sales tax? It splits your world in two:

1. On Amazon.com orders: Amazon collects and pays the tax

Every US state that charges sales tax has enacted a Marketplace Facilitator law. When a customer in Austin, Texas buys your product on Amazon.com, Amazon calculates the exact state + city + county rate (use our free US sales tax calculator to see how layers stack), collects it from the buyer, and remits it to the Texas Comptroller under Amazon’s own tax account.

If you only sell on Amazon.com, you do not collect sales tax from Amazon customers.

2. The Catch: FBA Inventory Creates Physical Nexus from Dollar One

Here is what catches European brands: under US tax law, inventory stored in a third-party warehouse (including an Amazon FBA center) creates physical nexus in that state from your very first $1 of sales.

You might have heard of the US “$100,000 economic nexus threshold” (South Dakota v. Wayfair). That $100,000 buffer only protects remote sellers with zero physical inventory in the state. Once Amazon puts two units of your SKU in a Pennsylvania or Washington warehouse, your threshold in that state drops to $0.

Why does physical nexus matter if Amazon collects tax on your Amazon sales?

The Shopify / D2C Trap: Six months after launching on Amazon.com, you spin up a US Shopify store or fulfill website orders using Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF). Because your FBA inventory already gave you physical nexus in 25+ states, you legally owe sales tax on every single Shopify order shipped to those 25+ states from order #1. Shopify will not collect a penny unless you register for state sales tax permits and turn collection on.
State Registration & Zero/Deduction Returns: Several FBA warehouse states still require sellers with inventory in-state (or combined marketplace sales crossing their economic nexus thresholds) to hold an active sales tax permit and file periodic returns showing gross sales minus a “marketplace-facilitated deduction.”

EU Entity vs. US LLC: Beware the $25,000 IRS Form 5472 Penalty

Walk into any e-commerce forum and someone will tell you: “Open a Wyoming or Delaware LLC for $299 on Stripe Atlas or Firstbase before launching on Amazon US!”

Hold on. You do not need a US LLC to sell on Amazon.com.

Option A: Sell through your European company (Recommended for most starters). Amazon North America gladly accepts a German GmbH, Dutch BV, French SAS, Spanish SL, or Polish Sp. z o.o. You obtain a US Employer Identification Number (EIN) for your EU company, submit Form W-8BEN-E inside Seller Central to claim your country’s US income tax treaty benefits, and receive payouts straight to your USD or EUR bank/Wise account.
Option B: Form a US Single-Member LLC. If you do form a US LLC owned by yourself (a non-US resident) or by your EU holding company, the IRS classifies that LLC as a Foreign-Owned Disregarded Entity (FODE).

Even if your US LLC owes $0 in federal income tax, you are legally required to file IRS Form 5472 attached to a pro-forma Form 1120 every single year to report every dollar or euro that moved between you, your EU company, and the LLC (capital contributions, inventory invoices, payouts).

The IRS penalty for failing to file Form 5472 on time is $25,000 per form, per year. Use your EU entity until you have a specific banking or liability reason to maintain a US corporate structure—and if you already opened a US LLC, make sure our US partner CPAs file your Form 5472 every April.

Step-by-Step Playbook: Expanding from Europe to Amazon USA

Step 1: Get an IRS EIN for your European company

You need a federal Employer Identification Number (EIN) to clear bulk FBA shipments through US Customs and to register for state sales tax permits. You do not need a US Social Security Number (SSN).

Complete IRS Form SS-4 listing your EU company, write "Foreign" on Line 7b (SSN/ITIN), and call the IRS International Business line at +1 (267) 941-1099 (or have GoodVat’s US partner accountants obtain it for you). Read our full Foreign Sellers Guide to US Sales Tax for the exact script.

Step 2: Set up as a Non-Resident Importer of Record (IOR)

Never list Amazon as the Importer of Record on your commercial invoice—Amazon will reject the shipment at the port. And don’t rely on the US $800 “Section 321” de minimis rule: it has been suspended for every country since 29 August 2025, so all FBA freight owes duty (see our Section 321 guide).

Instead, your freight forwarder registers your EU company as a Foreign Importer of Record using CBP Form 5106 and a Continuous Customs Bond (around $400–$500/year), tied to your new EIN.

Step 3: Complete the W-8BEN-E Tax Interview in Seller Central

Inside your North American Seller Central account (which automatically includes the US, Canada, and Mexico via NARF — North America Remote Fulfillment), complete the tax interview as a foreign business entity. This generates your Form W-8BEN-E, certifying that your business is non-US so Amazon doesn’t withhold 30% of your gross payouts.

Step 4: Track Your FBA Warehouse States & Economic Nexus

Once your stock is live on Amazon.com, Amazon starts shifting units across states. Rather than downloading raw Inventory Event Detail CSVs every month and cross-referencing airport-style warehouse codes (MDW2, CLT2, ABE8) by hand, connect your Amazon and Shopify accounts to GoodVat.

GoodVat maps:

Every US state where Amazon is holding your FBA inventory (physical nexus)
Your trailing 12-month revenue and transaction counts against all 45 states’ economic nexus rules
Which sales were taxed by Amazon vs. which sales on your Shopify/WooCommerce store need tax collected by you

Step 5: Register and File Through GoodVat + US Partner Accountants

European VAT agencies like Taxually or Hellotax are built for EU VAT—they don’t calculate US rooftop sales tax at checkout and don’t file your US state returns for standard e-commerce brands. On the flip side, US-only tools like TaxJar or TaxCloud have no clue what to do with your EU OSS returns or non-US EIN registrations.

GoodVat covers both sides of the Atlantic in one account:

EU VAT + US Sales Tax in one dashboard: Monitor your EU OSS and Pan-EU VAT alongside all 50 US states and 14,000+ local US tax jurisdictions.
Rooftop-accurate US calculation: Expanding to Shopify or B2B wholesale in the US? GoodVat calculates the exact state, county, city, and special district tax rate at checkout—including state-by-state product exemptions for clothing, food, and supplements.
US partner CPAs who understand foreign entities: Our US accounting partners register non-US companies for state sales tax permits (even in states whose portals demand a US SSN), file your state returns, and handle IRS Form 5472 / 1120-F compliance if needed.

FAQ

Do European sellers have to collect US sales tax on Amazon.com orders?

On Amazon.com orders, no. All 45 US states with a statewide sales tax (plus Washington, D.C.) have Marketplace Facilitator laws requiring Amazon to calculate, collect, and remit sales tax on your behalf. However, if you also sell on your own Shopify or WooCommerce store, you must collect and file sales tax yourself in every state where Amazon stores your FBA inventory.

Does storing inventory in US Amazon FBA warehouses create physical nexus for an EU company?

Yes. The moment Amazon distributes your inventory to a fulfillment center in California, Texas, Pennsylvania, or any other sales-tax state, you have physical nexus in that state from dollar one—bypassing the standard $100,000 economic nexus threshold.

Do I need a US LLC to sell on Amazon.com from Europe?

No. You can open a North American Amazon Seller Central account using your existing European company (German GmbH, French SAS, Dutch BV, Polish Sp. z o.o., etc.), an IRS Employer Identification Number (EIN), and form W-8BEN-E.

What is the IRS Form 5472 trap for European sellers with a US LLC?

If a non-US resident or foreign company owns a single-member US LLC (such as a Delaware or Wyoming LLC), the IRS treats it as a Foreign-Owned Disregarded Entity. You must file IRS Form 5472 and a pro-forma Form 1120 every year—even with zero taxable US income. The penalty for missing Form 5472 is $25,000 per year.

Foreign businesses do not need an SSN or ITIN to get an EIN. You or your tax partner can apply using IRS Form SS-4 by calling the IRS International Business line at +1 (267) 941-1099 or by faxing Form SS-4.

Can Taxually or my European VAT agency handle my US state sales tax?

Most European VAT specialists like Taxually only handle EU and UK VAT (or restrict US tax to enterprise platforms). GoodVat handles both your European VAT/OSS and US sales tax across 14,000+ US jurisdictions, with vetted US partner CPAs for state registrations and filings.

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