The Amazon Associates tax interview, for affiliates outside the US.
What each question is asking, the one answer that makes Amazon withhold 30% of your commission, and how to fix it. Taken from Amazon’s help pages and the IRS’s own W-8BEN instructions.
The short version
- Non-US associates fill in a W-8BEN through the interview. It certifies you are not a US person. Without it, Amazon withholds up to 30%.
- “Location of services performed” is where you do the work, not where the store is. Amazon’s own help says a UK associate linking to a US site is not earning US-sourced income.
- Two answers cause most 30% withholding. Not claiming a treaty, and choosing “inside and outside the United States” by mistake.
- The form lasts about three years. Until the end of the third calendar year after you sign it.
If you live outside the United States and join Amazon Associates, the tax interview is the first thing standing between you and your first payment. It is a set of IRS questions dressed as a wizard, and one of them, “location of services performed”, trips up a lot of people because it sounds like it is asking where Amazon is.
This is not tax advice. It explains what the interview asks and what Amazon and the IRS publish about it. Amazon’s own help page says it cannot determine whether you have a US tax liability and recommends a tax professional. Your own country’s tax rules apply to the income too, and nothing here covers them.
Where the interview is
Per Amazon’s help: log in to Associates Central, open Account Settings from the menu under your email address, choose View/Provide Tax Information (shown as Change your Tax Information once you have taken it), then Take Interview. Afterwards, the status appears on your account page under Payment Information. Amazon says the interview validates your details against IRS records, and that it must be completed and validated before you can be paid.
You can sign electronically. Amazon’s help says no special hardware or software is needed: you consent inside the interview, tick the box and type your name.
The questions, in the order that matters
“Location of services performed”, answered properly
The question is about you, not about Amazon. Being an associate is a service: you write pages, build the site and place links. The interview wants to know where you physically do that.
Amazon’s help page on 30% withholding is unusually direct about it. It says the “inside and outside the United States” answer applies only if you are physically present in the US for part of the time you are doing business with the program, in which case Amazon needs the percentage of that time. And it adds that being a member of the US Associates program does not mean you supply services inside the US, giving the example that a UK associate posting links to a US site is not earning US-sourced income.
| Your situation | Answer Amazon’s help points to |
|---|---|
| You live and work entirely outside the US | Outside the United States |
| You work from the US for part of the year | Inside and outside, with the percentage of time spent working inside the US |
| Your site, hosting or audience is American | Irrelevant to this question. It asks where you work. |
Why you are still being withheld 30%
Amazon’s help is careful on one point worth repeating: it cannot tell you whether you owe US tax, or what your treaty rate should be. Treaties differ by country and by type of income. If you are unsure which article of your country’s treaty applies, that is the moment for a tax professional, not a forum thread.
The small things that make the interview fail
- Your name must match your tax records exactly. Amazon’s help lists misspellings, a missing middle name or initial, and a wrong number as common reasons validation fails, and notes your tax name can differ from your business name.
- The tax ID is usually your own country’s. The IRS W-8BEN instructions ask for the foreign tax identifying number issued by your country of tax residence, with limited exceptions. Amazon’s help lists a US ITIN or EIN as options for non-US persons; they are not the only route.
- W-8BEN is not for US business income. The IRS says income effectively connected with a US trade or business goes on W-8ECI instead. If you run a US company, the interview will route you differently.
- It expires. The IRS says a W-8BEN lasts until the last day of the third calendar year after signing. Put a reminder in your calendar for that year.
- A form arrives each spring. If you received US-sourced income, Amazon says Form 1042-S is made available by 15 March of the next year.
Other Amazon stores run their own programmes, with their own account settings and payment rules; our commission rate guide covers what each store pays. And if your first payment is held up for a reason that is not tax, what happens when an account is closed or not approved covers the other common blockers.
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What does “location of services performed” mean in the Amazon tax interview?
It asks where you physically do the work of being an associate: writing, building pages, placing links. If you do all of it outside the United States, you choose outside the US. Amazon’s help says being in the US Associates program does not by itself mean you perform services in the US.
Why is Amazon withholding 30% when I finished the tax interview?
Amazon’s help gives two reasons: you did not claim an appropriate treaty, or you said you provide services both inside and outside the United States. If either was a mistake, retake the interview from Account Settings.
Do non-US Amazon associates need a US tax ID?
Not necessarily. The IRS W-8BEN instructions ask for the foreign tax identifying number issued by your own country of tax residence, with limited exceptions. A US ITIN or EIN is one option Amazon’s help mentions, not the only one.
Which form do non-US Amazon associates fill in?
Most individuals complete a W-8BEN through the interview, which certifies that you are not a US person. The IRS says not to use W-8BEN for income effectively connected with a US trade or business; that case uses W-8ECI.
How long is my Amazon W-8BEN valid?
According to the IRS, a W-8BEN stays in effect from the date it is signed until the last day of the third calendar year after that, unless your circumstances change. A form signed in 2026 lasts until 31 December 2029.
Will Amazon send me a tax form as a non-US associate?
Amazon says non-US payees who received US-sourced income during the year generally receive Form 1042-S, made available by 15 March of the following year.