Unlock savings: save 15%+ in AWS with the right Tax Settings
As Benjamin Franklin famously wrote, in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. When you use AWS you pay tax. Lots of people can use AWS, from individuals experimenting with services themselves for the first time through to multi-national corporations. By default AWS issues you standard invoices. These can be emailed to you as PDFs invoices if you configure it in your billing preferences in the AWS Console.
Your business will have a registered Tax Registration Number (TRN). In the UK this is a VAT number, the format and name depends on the country. You can look up TRN formats in the AWS documentation for Europe here.
In the UK, If you are a business and are VAT (Value Added Tax) registered, then you should seek to get VAT invoices from AWS, to allow you to claim back the tax, at 20% in the UK, that is added to your use of AWS. There are specifics for other countries which AWS has documented in their tax help.
When working with an AWS account or an AWS organization you should visit the tax settings page and enter details of your tax registration, including the Country/Region, Tax Identification Number, valid formats of which will be highlighted when you have chosen the Country/Region, and the business address.
You can also find the Tax settings under Billing and Cost Management under Preferences and Settings:
If you are using AWS organizations, which most businesses will likely do, then you should also ensure that tax setting inheritance is switched on. This ensures that as accounts are added to your organization, the tax settings are inherited and avoid you needing to enter details again for new accounts.
VAT is not reverse charged with AWS as they outline in the FAQ and so you will need to ensure that you claim VAT credit as you would for other VAT invoices. Note that if you have opted in to receive PDF invoices, your VAT invoices will also be emailed to you as a PDF.
With this configuration setup properly you should now be able to manage your tax invoices from AWS effectively for your business.
Note that tax rates vary significantly in different geographies. In the uk it is 20%. ChatGPT tells me the global average is 15% to 20%.
Cloudsoft Spotlight for AWS
If you have reached here as part of Cloudsoft Spotlight, it indicates that we found that some or all of your AWS accounts do not have a Tax Registration Number configured for them and so we’d recommend configuring this for your business. Please contact Cloudsoft if you need support for this.
This post is part of our Spotlight series where Cloudsoft experts use advanced tooling to look across your AWS estate for opportunities to optimize cost, increase security and take advantage of the latest innovations in AWS. We let you focus on your business objectives by ensuring you use AWS effectively.