At the beginning of this year, a seller who had been operating on Amazon Germany for many years was suddenly suspended from selling. Amazon indicated that it was notified by the German tax authorities that the seller had non-compliant VAT returns in 2020 and 2021.
After investigation, it was discovered that the seller had underreported a certain amount of VAT in 2020 and 2021. The German Tax Office sent the tax compensation letter directly to Amazon Germany, and Amazon immediately restricted the ability to sell accounts due to compliance obligations.
The seller took more than a month to resolve related issues, during which time the store was unable to ship, which directly caused huge loss of sales.
This case is not an isolated case. In Germany, VAT compliance has long been the focus of website regulation, and once an error is made, the consequences are very serious.

To successfully enter Amazon Germany, you need to understand the four core areas of compliance, namely tax compliance, trade compliance, environmental compliance, and product compliance.

It is worth noting that Amazon has closely linked compliance data to shipping permissions. Failure to complete registration or inconsistent information at any point may result in products not being listed or FBA not being able to use them.

Let's say Little C is a Chinese seller planning to sell wireless mice on Amazon Germany. Since this product contains a battery, it is an electronic product, and must meet several compliance requirements before entering the European site.
The main compliance sections covered include:
● VAT compliance
● EORI trade compliance
● EPR environmental compliance (German packaging law, WEEE electronic waste recycling, battery law BatG)
● Product compliance (CE certification, EU responsible person)

It is particularly important to note that electronic products must complete CE certification before entering the EU region to ensure that the products meet EU safety, health, environmental protection and consumer protection requirements. Since there are many compliance matters, Little C needs to proceed in a phased and planned manner.
Here's his complete process from opening a store to selling wireless mice in compliance.

Step 1: Register for Amazon Germany
Little C prepared materials such as a business license, corporate ID card, company bank account, address certificate, etc., and successfully completed the German store registration.
When registering, you must ensure that the information is true and valid. In particular, the name and address of the business are consistent with the tax registration data to avoid Amazon's failure in the later stages.

Step 2: Upload the products and create a screenshot of the test shipment
In order to provide supporting materials for subsequent VAT applications, Little C uploaded the wireless mouse product information in the back office, created an FBA shipping plan, and then kept a screenshot. Delete the shipment promptly after creation to avoid being mistaken as a non-compliant shipment.

Step 3: Apply for a German VAT number and an Irish EORI number
Little C submits information such as a business license, ID, and a screenshot of the shipment to the tax service agency to register a German VAT number (usually takes 6 to 12 weeks).
At the same time, although Germany does not directly issue EORI numbers to non-EU companies (including Chinese sellers), based on communication results and service channels between third party tax service providers and the Irish Tax Service, it is recommended to choose to register an Irish EORI number to meet customs clearance needs within the EU.

Step 4: Complete EPR Environmental Registration
Wireless mice are electronic products and contain batteries, so Little C needs to complete three environmental compliance registrations:
● VerpackG (Packaging Act): Used for registration and declaration of packaging materials
● WEEE number: registration for electronic and electrical recycling
● Battery Act (BattG): Enforced in Germany from August 18, 2025; early registration is recommended
After completing the above registration, Little C can legally list this product on Amazon and ensure that it will not be removed or penalized due to environmental regulations.

Step 5: Provide CE and other certificates and display safety warning information
According to Amazon's product compliance requirements, before shipping, XiaoC also needs to test the battery part of the wireless mouse to ensure that it meets the relevant standards. After the test is completed, the CE certificate, EU responsible person information, and related test reports are finally uploaded to the Amazon back office.
In addition, Xiao C also needs to clearly print the product safety warning information and post it in a prominent place on the product packaging to fully guarantee consumers' right to know and use safety, and avoid potential risks caused by missing information.

Step 6: After the VAT number is down, it is uploaded to the Amazon back office
After the VAT number is issued, Xiao C immediately logs in to the seller's back office to complete the information upload, activate the FBA shipping authorization, and avoid being unable to ship due to failure to pass the system review.

Step 7: Create an official shipment and send it to the German FBA warehouse
After all the processes were completed, Little C created an official FBA shipment and sent the wireless mouse to the German warehouse. The product was successfully put on the shelves and sales started.

Key points of follow-up compliance maintenance
Compliance registration is only the first step; more importantly, subsequent ongoing maintenance. The following are compliance management tasks that sellers must perform on an ongoing basis:

Note: The specific reporting frequency and requirements may change, and sellers should refer to the latest official regulations