BERLIN: German investigators believe Amazon is allowing retailers to avoid sales tax through its Marketplace portal. A series of raids on logistics centers shows authorities are determined to crack down.
Amazon effectively offers a safe haven for businesses to avoid sales tax, German revenue officials told Handelsblatt on condition of anonymity.
In June, authorities raided eight Amazon locations across Germany as part of an investigation into a Chinese trader who had sold goods through the online marketplace without deducting sales tax.Mark Steier, an expert on e-commerce, said there are currently 64,000 retailers on Amazon in Germany, about 5,500 of whom are from China.
“According to our conclusions, 99 percent of Chinese companies sell their goods on Amazon without deducting sales tax,” Mr. Steier toald Handelsblatt. “We estimate the annual loss in tax revenue through online trading to be between €500 million ($530 million) and €800 million.”
A spokesman for Amazon told Handelsblatt that traders on the website are independent companies and are responsible for fulfilling their own tax obligations.
Authorities raided Amazon centers in several cities across the country, including Pforzheim in Baden-Württemberg, Bad Hersfeld in northeastern Germany and in Leipzig over the summer. Even Amazon’s German headquarters in Munich received an unannounced visit.
