Answer
At the very least, the following is what I request from my Amazon sellers in order to prepare their Income Tax Returns. Obviously, every situation is different so consult with your tax professional. For the clients that we are already doing their monthly bookkeeping, they omit most of the steps below since we have clean, tax-ready reports( P&L and Balance sheet) for them!
Summary Report
Login to Amazon Seller Central>Click Menu Bar>Payments>Reports Repository>Report Type(Summary)>Select Custom dates(1/1 to 12/31)>Request Report
- This is a very basic report to help you get started with P&L Statement.
- Add all other non AMZ(off amazon) expenses to it. For example:COGS(a very important number to track)
- Other expenses you incurred related to your Amazon business. For example,Software and subscriptions,website,photography,3PL storage fee,packaging and shipping materials etc
- PPC(if it gets taken out of your Credit Card)
Inventory Count at Year End
Login to Amazon Seller Central>Reports>Fulfillment>Inventory Ledger>Download Tab>Choose Summary View,Country,Exact Date(Dec 31st-Dec 31st)>Request CSV Download.
1099-K if you made $20,000 or more in revenue and had more 200 transactions
The IRS requires each payment settlement entity(in this case Amazon) to send you a form 1099-K by January 31st.
Reports>Tax document library>Download
BONUS-Not in Seller Central
Mileage log
You should have been tracking your mileage manually(log book) or by an app such as Mile IQ. If you are a QuickBooks user, you can track your miles using the app at no extra cost
