Selling on Amazon, Shopify, or both? Book a quick call and we'll tell you exactly who's responsible for the VAT on each channel — and how to keep it clean.
One of the most common mix-ups we see with growing ecommerce brands is the assumption that Shopify handles VAT the way a marketplace does. Sellers move from Amazon to their own store expecting the platform to quietly collect and remit the VAT in the background — then discover, sometimes a few VAT returns too late, that Shopify is simply a storefront and the entire VAT obligation is theirs. It's an easy mistake to make, and an expensive one to unpick.
Amazon and Shopify are the two routes most UK ecommerce sellers choose between — and for VAT they behave very differently. The headline difference is simple: Amazon is a marketplace, so in certain cases it collects and pays the VAT for you. Shopify is your own store, so you are responsible for the VAT on every sale.
That single distinction ripples through registration, who hands the VAT to HMRC, how your fees are taxed, and how much bookkeeping you do — and as you scale, it quietly shapes your margins and cashflow too. This guide compares the two side by side so you can see which is simpler for your situation, and what to watch if you sell on both.