In this context, there are several important aspects to consider with regard to accounting and taxation:

As far as accounting is concerned, it should be noted that manually recording each individual sale is often no longer feasible in practice, as sales can amount to thousands of transactions per month and the administrative workload and associated costs would become unsustainable. For this reason, we have developed a system that allows us to automate the accounting of sales using lists in Excel format. You provide us with the data in Excel format (the standard template can be found in the attachment), and we take care of recording all transactions.

With regard to taxation , e-commerce is characterised by a high degree of complexity in the administration of VAT. As a general rule, VAT is due in the country of the customer, and the applicable VAT rates are calculated according to the customer's country and declared and paid through the One-Stop Shop (OSS) system (Ventanilla Única).

The main advantage of the OSS system is that separate VAT registration in each customer's country is generally no longer required where the products are dispatched from Spain. Under this mechanism, foreign VAT is declared and paid through Spain, significantly reducing the administrative burden associated with VAT registrations in different countries. Automated systems or sales platforms such as Amazon handle invoicing, and sales data can be transferred automatically by many accountants directly into their accounting software.

The disadvantage is that when goods are imported into Spain, the full amount of import VAT must be paid at customs, while foreign VAT is paid on sales and therefore cannot be offset against Spanish input VAT. As this input VAT can generally only be refunded in the final quarter, in practice the company would need sufficient liquidity or financing to wait up to one and a half years for the refund of input VAT incurred on purchases (domestic purchases or imports into Spain). As sales volumes increase, this option becomes increasingly less attractive.

The alternative is to register voluntarily (mandatory from an annual turnover of €6 million) for the REDEME system (Register for Monthly VAT Refunds) and the SII (Immediate Supply of VAT Information), allowing businesses to receive VAT refunds on a monthly basis instead of having to wait until the end of the year. Monthly VAT returns (Modelo 303) are then filed, and invoice data must be submitted electronically almost in real time. Depending on whether the invoices are issued by you or by a third party (e.g. Amazon), you must provide the data to your accountant once a week (every 7 days). Although the administrative workload is higher, this solution is often highly advantageous for e-commerce businesses, as the VAT refund on purchases does not have to be pre-financed for an extended period. A cost-benefit analysis and further details can be found in our article: VAT Refunds in E-Commerce through REDEME & SII

How Does the Administration Work in Practice?

Our accounting software is configured so that reports provided by online sales platforms (e.g. Amazon) can be used directly to record sales invoices. For this purpose, we use a data import system. You only need to provide us with the corresponding report directly from the platform containing the required information, such as: invoice date, VAT rate, currency, total amounts, taxable amounts, VAT amounts, details of the company's Spanish VAT or – where stock is held in other EU countries – other applicable VAT amounts, VAT on issued invoices, where applicable the customer's name, postcode and country of destination.

You can find our example for data collection at: https://sspartners.es/docs/oss

Based on this report, it is not necessary to provide us with the issued invoices in PDF format. However, it is important that these invoices are retained and archived for at least six years in order to comply with the requirements of the Spanish Commercial Code and the General Tax Law.

Our firm will be pleased to assist you in analysing your specific situation, carrying out the necessary administrative procedures on your behalf and preparing and filing the corresponding tax returns. If you are interested in our services or have specific questions regarding this topic, please do not hesitate to contact us by email or telephone.

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Accounting for E-Commerce Companies