Another strict investigation! A large number of seller accounts have been suspended

Soon after the beginning of the year, Amazon launched a wave of strict inspections. First, it deleted reviews on a large scale, then the European site began to check taxes, and soon the platform began to strictly review new accounts for fake orders. It can be expected that 2024 will still be a year of "strictness".

Recently, a large number of sellers have revealed that their accounts have been suspended, and they speculated that the UK site will tighten its policies and begin to strictly enforce FHDDS.

A large number of sellers’ accounts have been suspended. Is Amazon conducting strict tax inspections?

Recently, sellers on the UK site have been reporting that they have received a notice titled "Provide Import Entry Numbers (IEN) for Shipments to UK Distribution Centers", which requires sellers to provide IEN for all applicable shipments in the "Shipment Processing Progress" to remove the export suspension restrictions on the account.

According to the sellers’ feedback, it is not uncommon for sellers to receive this notification ↓

British logistics includes tax. What should I do if my account is deactivated due to failure to provide IEN?

Those who filled in the IEN did not receive any notification, but those who did not fill it out received it.

France now also has such requirements and requires filling in other information.

I have almost a hundred shipments that need to fill in IEN, but only one has one.

The first time this problem occurred, we clicked to reactivate because we were worried about subsequent strict inspections.

Every time I filled in IEN, I received a notification. This was probably a mass message from Amazon.

In fact, as early as the beginning of the year, some sellers reported receiving such notifications. However, at that time, some sellers stated that for goods with a declared value below 135 pounds, if there was no C88 document (EU unified customs declaration form), they would generally choose not to have an IEN; while for goods above 135 pounds, they would have this document and would choose to have an IEN.

It was not until after the Chinese New Year that this wave of notifications was completely passed on to most European sellers. Many sellers were worried about this. Some sellers gave substantive suggestions, saying that they could first contact the logistics company to obtain the IEN, and then upload it to the backend as soon as possible after obtaining it; if there is no IEN, they should select the "IEN cannot be provided" option, but Amazon or the tax bureau may subsequently track and investigate the goods, and the seller will need to provide the reason.

In response to this situation, a seller consulted the account manager and got the reply: If you are checked, you can tell the truth. This Amazon restriction reminder is just a warm reminder. Just like the previous account deprivation of sales privileges due to fake orders, if the seller is caught for the first time, it is still easy to pass after telling the truth. But the second time, it will be difficult. Therefore, it is recommended that sellers must fill in IEN for future shipments .

At present, as long as the sellers provide the corresponding information as required by the platform, there will be no negative impact for the time being. The customer service feedback also confirms this situation: "The IEN code is for non-tax-inclusive channels, and the purpose of sending the notice is to remind everyone to make up the IEN . "

Shipments that were previously shipped through the tax-inclusive channel can continue to go through the tax-inclusive channel. After receiving the shipment, you need to select "no import record" and save it. However, sellers need to be careful to add "no import record" to all shipments that were previously editable and save and submit them.

Of course, sellers also need to pay attention to one thing. Regardless of whether they have an IEN code or not, they must update the IEN status in a timely manner. Otherwise, Amazon will regard it as "not complying with UK VAT and customs obligations" and will directly restrict warehousing after 60 days.

Obviously, Amazon is strictly checking taxes and confirming that every seller has made compliant declarations at the import port. But what about some sellers who include taxes?

What will happen if the tax-inclusive seller cannot provide IEN?

It is understood that as early as 2019, the British Customs issued a FHDDS notice to sellers to increase tax supervision on overseas sellers. However, in order to save costs, many sellers will choose to go through the "double clearing and tax package" channel. However, in this case, the stores in the same tax package bill of lading will use the same IEN code.

Freight forwarders will not proactively provide IENs to sellers , so sellers naturally think that they do not need to fill it out. In addition, Amazon has not required sellers to fill out IENs in recent years, which has led to many sellers having a relatively vague understanding of this area. "After using the tax-inclusive channel for a year, I have not filled out IENs for more than a dozen shipments, and some have even closed the editing," a seller said helplessly. Although similar sellers have been reactivated and successfully unblocked, they are also worried that Amazon will settle accounts later.

Regarding the issue that some sellers are worried about, "If multiple sellers fill in the same IEN number for goods in the tax-inclusive channel, will there be a direct correlation?", some sellers consulted customer service and got a positive answer that there is a risk of correlation. Generally, when asking the freight forwarder, the answer is "there is no IEN". Some colleagues said that they dare not fill it in even if they have it, for fear of problems.

According to industry insiders, when similar issues occur with tax-inclusive products, the seller will not be immediately suspended from selling, and will be given a buffer period to adjust, so the seller does not need to worry too much. However, if the seller uses the self-tax channel, he can just add the corresponding IEN as required, and there is no problem with merging multiple tickets for customs clearance, but the authenticity of the information must be ensured.

As this emergency involves a large number of sellers, Amazon account managers have sorted out several issues that sellers are more concerned about, such as: IEN is required for all non-UK sellers and the goods are shipped to the UK from countries and regions outside the UK; Shipments requiring IEN must be created after October 1, 2023; Failure to provide IEN will not affect the account status, but will affect UK warehousing; If IEN is not provided within 60 days, the background cannot be edited, and the European department is processing it, and further waiting is required.

Strict investigation is still ongoing, sellers should be careful

You may think this situation is a sudden one, but the fact is that the popular European sites have always been subject to tax audits. In 2023 alone, there were several tax audits, and the scope of impact has gradually expanded to various European sites, and the amount involved has also increased.

In a wave of inspections before the New Year, many stores registered by local companies were inspected and sellers were required to provide relevant certificates to prove that they had opened local companies in Europe. At that time, the stores with serious violations were directly suspended and their account funds were frozen. Some sellers paid the taxes with tears, while some sellers chose to abandon their accounts because they could not pay the high taxes. After the New Year, this wave of inspections continued, and the funds of many sellers were directly reserved.

Amazon's compliance trend is getting stronger and stronger, and it involves more than just tax issues. During the Spring Festival, many sellers were busy celebrating the New Year and did not pay attention to their emails. When they returned to work after the New Year, they found that they had received a lot of verification emails.

"Three stores need qualification review, and two stores need enhanced video verification. It's a headache," one seller said helplessly. There are many sellers in the same situation as this seller. Some sellers failed the review before the New Year, and some sellers neglected to check the stores during the New Year.

Under the double attack of verification and tax inspection, many European sellers are overwhelmed. However, as Amazon tightens its compliance process, sellers also need to keep the word "compliance" in mind.

Taxation

IEN

Europe