As an Amazon seller (UK), you will have to pay tax on your income as you would on any other self-employed income.
First though, you’ll need to work out how you’re viewed in the eyes of HMRC. This is known as your employment status.
This depends on what portion of your income selling on Amazon accounts for. Does it make up all of your income or do you use your earnings to top up your salary?
In this case, you are a full-time Amazon seller and you will be taxed as a self-employed worker.
In this case, you are both employed and self-employed and you will be taxed as if it is a side gig.
As an employee, your employer calculates and deducts Income Tax and National Insurance contributions for you.
But because you’ve earned over £1,000 from self-employment, you need to submit a Self Assessment tax return to pay Income Tax and National Insurance on your earnings.
These are all deducted from your salary by your employer every month.
You pay no Income Tax on the first £12,570 that you make.
You pay £5,486 (20%) on your salary between £12,570 and £40,000.
You pay no NI contributions on the first £12,570 that you make.
You pay£2,194 (8%) on your salary between £12,570 and £27,430
That’s not all. Your employer is also required to pay separate NI contributions, but these won’t come out of your wages. In your case they would need to pay an extra £3,785 – you should see these on your payslip.
You will need to submit a Self Assessment tax return and pay these taxes and contributions yourself. The deadline is January 31st of the following year.
You pay £2,054 (20%) on your self-employment income between £0 and £10,270.
You pay £7,092 (40%) on your self-employment income between £10,270 and £28,000.
You will also have to pay £616 (6%) on £10,270 of your self-employment income.
You will have to pay an additional £355 (2%) on another £17,730 of your self-employment income.
You need to save
to pay your £10,116.80 tax bill by 31/1/2026 which is in 666 days
If Amazon selling is your main source of UK income, you’ll be taxed on your profits each tax year in three ways:
🚨From 6 April 2024 (the 24/25 tax year onwards), Class 2 National Insurance is being scrapped. If you’re under the threshold and pay them voluntarily to qualify for benefits, you’ll still be able to do so.
At the same time, Class 4 is reducing from 9% to 8%.
It’s important to keep a record of everything you earn from Amazon by keeping the digital receipts and invoices all in one place. A spreadsheet for every tax year (split by month) is probably the most effective way of doing this, but it’s up to you how to go about it.
Luckily for you, we have a handy Self-employed calculator to help you work out what you owe.
There are three different avenues that you can choose between:
If you choose to pay your bill yourself, you’ll first need to register for Self Assessment.
To do this, head to HMRC here.
You will then need to pay your tax bill by 31st January of the year following the tax year that you’re paying for.
Confused?
Here’s an example:
If you’re paying for the 2024/25 tax year, you will pay this by 31st January 2026. Â
Take a look at all of the important deadlines to be aware of here.
If you’re employed full-time and you sell items on Amazon on the side, good news. You’re covered by the Trading Allowance up to your first £1,000 in profit.
If your profit exceeds £1,000, you will need to declare it to HMRC. To do this:
Head to HMRC when you come to registering.
The Trading Allowance is a tax relief that enables you to earn up to £1,000 in profit on top of your regular income without paying tax.
If you make less than £1,000 in a tax year, you won’t have to register for Self Assessment or complete a tax return.
If you claim the Trading Allowance, be aware that you’re not allowed to deduct your expenses.
As a self-employed Amazon seller (UK), you can deduct your business expenses from your profits to lower the portion of income on which you pay tax.
You only pay tax on your profits. Not on your earnings as a whole. If, for example, you sold your old laptop through Amazon and for less money than you bought it for, you don’t pay tax on this sale.
Alternatively, if you earn £31,000 profit from selling, for instance, but buy a £500 camera to take more professional photos of your items for sale, you could deduct the camera from your takings. As a result, you would pay tax on £30,500 instead of £31,000.
Here’s a list of allowable expenses as an Amazon seller – but remember that you can actually expense anything (within reason!). As long as you have evidence of the purchase and of it being a business expense, you can include it.
Manage your self-employed finances in one place with 10/10 bookkeeping tools.
Or see our Guides, Calculators or Taxopedia
