We recently hosted an Ask Amazon event focused on helping you manage your finances in Seller Central, as you prepare for tax season.
Your fellow sellers asked questions you might be facing too. Here are insights from our partners at Intuit that could help you.
Managing deferred transactions
We clarified that deferred revenue is essentially a receivable from Amazon, and many sellers find it helpful to label it as “Holdback Receivable” to differentiate it from other receivables. If you’re on a cash basis (an accounting method that records and tracks financial information by the actual flow of cash in and out of your business), you wouldn’t include the holdback receivable on your taxes until you receive it.
Getting help with QuickBooks integration
If you’re experiencing issues with your QuickBooks integration, our partner team at Intuit is actively improving the data integration to ensure there’s no loss of transactions between Amazon and QuickBooks. They’re also adding more help articles and training across their support team on common errors. To reach dedicated commerce agents who can help troubleshoot your specific issue, use the keywords “commerce” or “Amazon” when reaching out to support chat within QuickBooks.
Handling sales tax on your 1099
Your 1099 reflects taxes collected as income received, but this isn’t money you actually received and shouldn’t be counted as income. We recommend backing out sales tax collected and reported on the 1099 when reporting income to your tax accountant. If your tax accountant insists that your income should match the 1099, record an offsetting expense for the sales tax amount to net it out.
Understanding year-end report discrepancies
If your Summary Report shows a difference between sales minus expenses and your transfer amount, this is typically due to sales tax. The year-end tax documentation includes sales tax collected in the gross sales amount, but that amount isn’t transferred to you because we submit the sales tax on your behalf.
Choosing integration software
Webgility is a third-party software that supports integrations between QuickBooks Online and Amazon Seller Central. There’s also a free integration built by Intuit QuickBooks available in the Amazon app store under “QuickBooks Online.”
Managing quarterly estimated taxes
Third-party payment processors generally don’t withhold federal and state taxes, even though those boxes appear on your Form 1099-K. As a self-employed seller or small business, you can pay quarterly estimated taxes. In general, if you expect to owe $1,000 or more, you should make quarterly estimated tax payments. QuickBooks and TurboTax Live Business can help you calculate your estimated taxes.
Plans & pricing for Amazon sellers
QuickBooks offers four online plans:
- Simple Start: $38/month
- Essentials: $75/month
- Plus: $115/month
- Advanced: $275/month
To learn more, go to our Marketplace withheld tax help page.
We provide Amazon SEO Consultant services, Amazon PPC Management, Amazon Account Audit, Amazon Product Listing optimization, and Premium A+ Content design to help brands increase visibility, improve conversions, and drive consistent sales growth.
